Unemployment: The Worst-Hit States In July (MAP)

Took a massive cut in pay at the beginning of the year but I am making up for it right now. I'll make about 20k less this year but things are kind of back to normal in the field I work in. The offshore oil industry has traditionally been seasonal with no work after christmas due to rough seas. We were artificially inflated with work after Katrina/Rita due to all the damage that was done to the platforms. When all that work dried up this year it went back to normal operations. A lot of us were caught off guard but I managed to survive and will hopefully prosper but my outlook is pretty grim.

Another problem is the offshoring illusion. Actually, not that much of US manufacturing is offshored, most of it has simply evaporated and bankrupted. It is not that Cincinnatti -Milacron is now operating in Beijing or Hamilton watches are stamped in Guangzhou- the truth is they are made nowhere. Most of US companies have simply gone bust due to lack of Q U A L I T Y . United States have practised decades after decades of mediocre quality in manufacturing, whether we talk about huge gaps between panels in cars or huge gaps between stereo systems of mediocre plastics on other US consumer electronics, the pattern is the same- lack of quality, texture, diversity, lack of updates. If US facilities were offshored for a simple reason of lower labour costs, Intel wouldn`t have facilites in Japan, Gm wouldn`t have facilites in Germany , Chrysler wouldn`t have factories in Austria, and American car companies would never build their cars on Mercedes platforms or German or Japanese platforms., GM would never import cars built in Australia.( can you imagine , Germans design and build a platform , send it to Aussies, they build the tin, and then the car is reimported back to US, how cash saving is that?) My educated guess is that Americans lack skilled engineers and enough skilled workers to manage the whole cycle of creating a complex product . As you can see the primitive manufacturing has not left USA, only precision manufacturing. Colgate toothpaste -yes, wristwatches-no. Tupperware containers-yes. Industrial robots-no. Ziplock bags-yes. Consumer electronics-no. Interestingly, in Japan companies are run by engineers, and they have long term planning, while US companies are run by former varsity team leaders( the only way they could get a degree) and their only goal is short term- profits. Japanese phylosophy is simple- create a good product and profits will follow. US philsophy- create profits by any means, even if it demands buiding an actual product.

[edit on 08.15.09 by Advancedboy]

For example, let`s take Ford Motor Company. Did you know that the engines Ford uses are mostly engineered and built by Mazda of Japan? 1.4, 1.6, 1.8, 2.0, 2.3, 2.5 liter blocks are Mazda engineered and built. 4.4 liter block by Yamaha. Did you know that there is not a single US engineered and designed non-truck platform left in Ford asenal? All the platforms are Mazda3/ Mazda 6 spun offs. The last dinosaur left is the Mustang platform, the only only sports car in the world from major manufacturers to have a live rear axle. What do you think, do Japanese build and give engines and gearboxes (Aisin for expample) for free of charge to Ford? No!!! Someone must pay! Do you realize how many highly skilled and paid workers it would need to build these things at home? Do you realize how much money would those skilled people make, and what their purchasing power would do to benefit the local economy? if those blocks were made at home, it would give jobs to Pittsburg steel factories, it would give jobs to industrial bench makers like Lewis &Giddings, it would give jobs to local canteens, janitor and Rin Tin Tin to guard the perimeter of those factories.

And now welcome to the reality! What do you think how did the big 3 companies increase their reliability of parts of their cars? Because of dramatic inprovement of quality of assembly at home factories? No. The increase of reliability of Detroit iron is proportional to amount of import parts used in those cars. If Chrysler uses Mitsubishi Galant platform or E-Class platform of Mercedes and uses Mitsu engines, of course there is a less chance that things will go wrong, if GM uses Toyota (Nummi ) engines, Daewoo or Opel engines, of course, they will break down much less than the dinosaur OHV blocks from Detroit. Here you have an illusion of Detroit iron being competetive. Illusion without Siegfried and Roy. What has it to do with unemployment within US? This is the most direct cause of unemployment in US!!!

[edit on 08.15.09 by Advancedboy]

[edit on 08.15.09 by Advancedboy]

As I've said before in another thread, you'll never be able to compete with the engineering prowess of the Germans, the innovations of the Japanese or the efficiency of the Chinese.

Heck, if it weren't for Hitler's blunders, Germany would have the been the first country in space, maybe even the moon. And probably in Mars by now.

According to the BBC, they may even have exploded the first atomic weapon.

Good luck trying to compete with those krauts.

reply to post by hadriana

... HORRID ! You got that right ! I live in Murray county, The carpet companies here have cut out 3rd shifts, but are making 2 shifts work as 3... People getting injured left and right... I work construction " duh did " theres not any... And being self employed I am not counted in this jobless map... as many other thousands others are not... Also being selfemployed you cannot receive unemployment benefits... I do have a garden " cucumbers 90 freaking cents in the store... Good God Almighty !!!

reply to post by kissmygrits


Indeed. CNN reported last night that the actual figure is above 30 million.
If you factor in the current jobless, those who have taken part time jobs in desperation and those who have given up completely.

Nationally, there were 217.8 million people age 18 and over; 35.9 million people age 65 and over; and 53.3 million children ages 5 to 17 as of July 1, 2003

www.census.gov...

From the 217.8 million adults remove the number that are in school (university, college, etc). I couldnt find any figures so lets say 17.8 million. (could be higher or lower, I have no idea)

that leaves us with 200 million adults

so out of every 20 people you see in the street, 3 could be jobless.
Maybe my maths off but regardless, that figure doesn't sound reassuring.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The U-3 unemployment isn't 9.7%. That is a beautiful lie. The reality for August was 10.98% or thereabouts,whilst september U-3 will be 11.55%.
They will no doubt not even change it for September.

And U-6 (include all the people who have stopped looking for work,which is millions + all the housewives and mothers who are in the same boat, they aren't loking for work. And there are at least 10 million housewives in the USA who fall under that category)
And I'm not even adding people who have part-time jobs. Without them alone the U-6 is 20.3% and september will be around 21.4%

25 percent by the end of Decemer !

This 9.7% is a joke. People are falling off the jobless claims in hundreds of thosuands each month now and STILL unemployment is rising.

34% by June U-6

reply to post by Valeri


To add.

Why don't they show the numbers for a couple of more.

The massive infux of people that are still looking, but unemployment has run out. It started last month. Look at the point difference between U3 and U6. It has been mostly tit for tat until this last month.
I guess were too busy worrying about getting a healthcare bill that we can't pay for instead of getting people jobs.

The other number that never gets counted is self employed. Millions of small businesses have gone under. Just those owners add up to a great some and would add a couple of percent to the factor. Most do not get unemployment. Contracts are a big category. Which I fall under.
I am an engineer, but there are many types including sales, construction, etc. that do not get to collect. We are the first to go when things get bad.
We are also the first to go back when things come around, as companies on a build up do not want perm. employees until things are stable in a climb.
It's been about a year since Congress opened their damn mouths about the private jets. 10's of thousands of jobs lost just because of that.
What was the real cost? They are real idiots.

All I can say is that my phone is not ringing to go back to engineering.
I am at a very Senior level for systems as a Consultant. Sad really. You wonder why engineering is in sad shape in the US. It is driven completely by cost. The foolish part is, is that I can do the job of four to five, and only cost as much as three.

Luck has it, that I can and have done a lot more than just Engineering. I've been a business owner, with 35 employees. I've been a broker, which I do not want to do again. Plus if it gets down to it, I know which end of the screwdriver to use and can work on anything including building houses and woodwork.

When the time comes, if it does, I will within one year have gone from over 200k to maybe 30k if I am lucky. Thank goodness we are not in debt, as I almost always pay cash.

I have started a new business in helping people start or expand business. I have found plenty of funds available. 100's of millions for this.
The only thing at this point, holding us back, is the willingness to take risk and go into business.
That is the hardest part.

People got to acustom to having someone else do all their money with retirement and having a job. If they would step up to the plate, job can be created, and the small businesses can once again rule.

I am sorry for the long rant. This is the first time I have laid my problems out online anywhere. It just seemed like the right thread at the right time.

Please Prosper

j2000

thank you for that. I myself am a 20year old,who is studying international business administration. Let's see where that will get me in life.

if there's something standing in 2012,then good.if all breaks down by then.Well, that's life hehe.