Five scary charts and facts about who’s working and not working in this economy

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Phage already answered it:

But:

Sequestration Forces Cuts to Long-Term Unemployment Benefits for Millions

Companies won’t even look at resumes of the long-term unemployed

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Capitalism and the demand for higher profits for shareholders doomed the industries in those areas. Not the unions.

Honestly, you are going to sit there and tell me that people who contribute to record profits for these companies deserve nothing more than pay cuts via fewer hours and loss of benefits? That employers somehow reserve the right to cut employees hours just enough so they can avoid giving them health insurance so their stock price can go up a half a point tomorrow?

reply to post by links234


Record profits? You mean those companies we had to bail out and still have serious investment in as a result? Those record breakers? The records they've been breaking for years haven't been on the profit side of the ledger and they weren't much there before the bailouts became "necessary" to keep bad business from going under...as Capitalism WOULD have seen happen. It never got a chance to work because our last President turned out to be abut as Capitalist as Nikita Khrushchev. (By the end of Bush's terms I was almost happy to see Obama ..or ANYONE..replace the fool ..but then, that was likely the whole point. To get people like me to that mental state).

While Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) lost out to General Motors Co. (GM) in the number of vehicles sold last quarter for the first time since 2011, it won’t come in second by profit: Toyota probably earned $3 for every dollar at GM.

The Japanese carmaker may report tomorrow that profit climbed 52 percent to 441.2 billion yen ($4.5 billion) in the quarter ended June, according to the average of four analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. By comparison, Detroit-based GM reported last week that net income fell 23 percent to $1.4 billion as European operations continued to post losses.

Source

When you figure GM's own statements and reports indicate their profit centers now reside in China more than anywhere else? They're a really really bad example to use in saying how Union Power saves all. In GM's case, it was a major contributing factor to their past and ongoing doom......with Detroit all around them, falling with them. Not all GM's or Unions fault. I'm not saying that. It's all contributing to the end result though and math doesn't lie or spin.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Well there is no "buying American" anymore. Free Trade Status doomed us. "Buying America" meant supporting America. We got greedy with all the cheap crap, and are hooked on it.

Remember the little man named Ross who ran but loss..He said that with the passage of NAFTA we would hear a big sucking sound...as all our jobs overseas were bound....Our problems did not just start but the seeds were planted long ago...Again at a 35% corp tax rate if I owned a company that could, I would move the who thing where my tax rares were lower..

China is 25%, Bahamas 3.9% by employee, 5.9% by employer, Chile is 20%, Singapore about 20% when everything is figured, Thailand being smaller figured that they were losing business to their neighbors and dropped their 30% (Revised to 23% for FY2012 & 20% from FY2013 onward) business is coming back DUH!
TPTB always say we are in a world market which is usually a code for paying Americans less money. If they truly cared about or thought about keeping our businesses in the USA the corp tax rate would be competitive with the rest of the world.... big or small the same rate........Those are just a very few examples and not speaking for other countries....... in much of Asia those who are able can find work commensurate with their education level..One oddity..... I first heard about college grads flipping burgers! Oh my how terrible etc etc but it all made sense upon a little talking and investigation...

When Mikey D came into one of the cities they would only hire college grads and had hundreds of applications?? The lucky ones who got hired worked for a few months and became managers at other newly opened stores and the best of the best became regional managers...KFC to my knowledge did the same thing...Yuk fast food places...Managers own homes, not shacks, cars and motorcycles, and are a solid middle class..who would have thought flipping burgers with a college degree would lead to such things? Poor example but but what I am trying to show is the labor pool is bright, educated, and willing to start low and work their way up. Many skilled workers and the job market is tight for skilled labor. Unemployment in Thailand is around .56% that is point five six...!

Cambodia 1.68 unemployed, Burma 4.9, Hong Kong 3.3 still is a major player, Iceland 4.3 told the banks to stick it if I remember right, Laos 2.5 communist but love business (corruption helps) Malaysia 3.0 and the USA is sucking up big time with their Asia initiative, Thailand 0.56

28% for large corps and 40% for small businesses (latest proposal) is just another recipe for killing employment in America IMO.... Our government knows these figures so regardless of the lip service they give, no one is really trying to fix the problem...

It is a big world and there are many success stories...it is a shame many chose a myopic view of world affairs as the general population gets screwed. If I were a manufacturer the states would be one of the last places I would want to build a factory...sorry just business...You union people ( I was one once) go ahead and see what happens when your demands outstrip the companies hahahah or GOVERNMENTS ability to pay..I watched several airlines go out of business and all personal get layed off because the union hated management or could not meet their (union) demands......but hey they showed management! .....Now we have entire cities on the verge of bankruptcy.....mismanagement of funds and the huge unfunded retirement obligations will all come to a head someday in the future and for many it will be to little to late... hahahah just my opinion....

Originally posted by Evil_Santa
reply to post by Night Star

 

See - I just don't get how the unemployment rate is still this high. I have no issues finding employment, and have switched jobs 3 times since 2008. Each time I put in pretty minimal effort to find gainful employment, and had a position within 1 - 2 interviews.

Here's an example, I'm between companies right now, and I've sent out maybe 5 resumes in the last month. Last week I had 1 interview and will go back next week for the 2nd interview.

I have a GED. That's it.

You probably have no issues finding employment due to the type of jobs that you are qualified for with just having a GED.

People with higher education cannot find work not due to a lack of trying...I wouldn't even remotely try to compare your situation to anyone else's.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Unemployment is not the easy issue to address most people think it is. There are a number of issues at play that effect the whole picture.

First you have the current corporate culture, the Henry Ford's of the world have dwindled in favor of the Gordon Gekko's. As a result you have the upper tiers of organizational hierarchy out pacing the lower tiers in income earnings in the name of expanding profit. Once employees were considered an asset and an investment that resulted in a more robust economy, now they are a cost to be cut so the quarterly report looks good.

Then you have a minimum wage that went from being able to provide a livable but spartan living to one that in many cases is not worth even bothering with. And I am sorry for all those that think that the minimum wage was not meant to be a livable wage. It was in fact the intention to make it so that you could feed clothe and shelter yourself with a small amount of extra money to spend. That was the whole point to create a stable floor for the rest of the economy. You can make an argument that some jobs in certain industries should have a lower minimum than others but please stop denying what the minimum wage was intended to do. Had the minimum been set and then tied to inflation this would not be an issue.

Do not fool yourself on this one the minimum has been deliberately left low to cut down on future competition. When people can afford to live, and and have money to spend after the bills are paid they also have the potential to save and start their own business using the experiences they acquired on the job. While everyone may have the potential to become wealthy not everyone can be wealthy at the same time. So the deck is stacked in favor of those that have already accumulated their wealth.

Another big issue is criminalization of the lower classes. Sure it is good for the private prison industry. But in the world of background and credit checks to get job, not so great. What you have done is essentially created an economic prison that most will never escape. Obviously that is not a good thing for any economy. And it has turned this country from the land of second chances, into the land of little to no chance to redeem yourself from poor decisions.

The recession is declared over and behind us, yet real unemployment is astonishing high. However the investor class is doing just fine. To them it was little more than a bump in the road, the Dow has never been higher and they are dancing on the backs of those under them. To the rest of America it was a huge rustbelt pothole after the snow melted, that has left them with a serious repair bill.

Originally posted by neo96

The number of men 20 and older who are not in the workforce is now 30 million ?

That is a staggering number to contemplate. And from what I can see, there
are just not enough jobs, not enough commerce or small business growth
to look to providing work anytime soon.

The biggest growth these days is government jobs, symbiotic with mega corps
that are following the agenda of America in decline, and the new Spy State.

And we also have a burgeoning set of people who are caught up by the new
prison planet and militarizing of the police force. I mean for heaven sake
they go around stuffing baby deer in body bags and confiscating geese.

New criminals for the system!

reply to post by KeliOnyx


I beg to differ. At least in part. In the localized employment? Yes, it's a complex issue and the issue is made up of different factors depending on where in the nation one is looking. Near 30% unemployment in El Centro, Ca and Yuma, Az have entirely different causes than unemployment in Miami or Hialeah, Florida.

On the other hand, national and international sources of employment within the major corporations like the "big ticket" item producers? (Cars, appliances, as well as many other things such as steel and aluminum) That's a far simpler issue.

Add 1 part Highest Corporate Tax rate on Earth

Add several parts Free Trade Agreements

Add 2 parts terrible leadership (1 part Bush, 1 part Obama).

What do you have? One giant crap sandwich of economically hostile conditions with every incentive anyone could see to have, to leave the United States and sell products back into the country from somewhere else. Almost anywhere else in the world will do nicely, given how we're now among the most hostile of them all in regulatory environment as well.

They can't keep crapping on business and not expect all business who can leave, to leave with all possible speed. The Free Trade Agreements have literally removed any penalty that may ever have existed for doing it, too. So heck, we have the red carpet rolling in precisely the wrong direction and have for at least 15 years now. It took the last parts of bad leadership to put the last slice of bread on top and make it a meal.

we lived high on the hog for quite some time and it's over now, we have used more resources than most nations combined and it's over now, we have sat back and watched how our elected officials have done nothing to help us and it's over now. we wont see jobs, an improving economy nor health care for all, it's not okay and everything wont be alright.

time to grow up people, it's our turn to live like animals now, since we have lived off the backs of billions who have been just so we in the usa can live the high life, well that's over now and it aint coming back.

there will be no recovery, there will be no jobs coming back, there will be no help from our elected officials, just more people realizing how screwed we are and getting angry and sad about it.

our economy is a farce, our elected officials are a farce and the hopium we see them spew is a farce. the only thing you can count on is things deteriorating much more then it has already and after that, your guess is as good as mine.

the sooner people see the truth the sooner they can begin to learn how to live their new life, without 3 squares a day, without decent medical care, without jobs, without welfare, without an EBT card, yes even those things are temporary and soon to run dry.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I was really referring to companies like Wal-Mart and McDonald's in that second post. You know, the ones that just can't "afford" to give anything more to their employees despite cointinual profits in the realm of billions of dollars per year.

Edit to add:
reply to post by KeliOnyx


It's a shame I only have one star to give this post.

reply to post by links234


Well, there again is where we disagree. Some look at one of the largest employers in the world and say they make billions a year in profit! Evil! Horrible! Stop that! I look at scale first and try and consider numbers in a comparative way.

Walmart's Profit Suffers Due To Delayed Income Tax Refunds

Now I don't link that to have a 'So Sowwy' party over the fact their profits are down. Good. They probably ought to be when everyone else's are as well. No, it's the other part in there that makes the story worth referencing.

Wal-Mart earned $3.78 billion, or $1.14 per share, in the first quarter ended on April 30, up from $3.74 billion, or $1.09 per share, a year earlier.

The analysts' average forecast was $1.15 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. In February, Wal-Mart had forecast a profit of $1.11 to $1.16 per share.

First-quarter revenue rose 1 percent to $114.19 billion.

(Link Above)

I punched the numbers on that and it indicates Walmart is operating at a 3.29% profit to cost ratio. That's not very much and in fact, isn't terribly impressive at all in terms of thinking of them like a behemoth of greed and profit. Scale and perspective are always real important to consider. Especially when so many cry 'hate hate hate'. It's time to look and see the facts behind the slogans in my view. The facts here don't show a runaway profit machine, given the size and scope of their global operation. Not even close, at that ratio.

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I agree with you in part. We probably could do with lowering the corporate rates a little bit. But I disagree on the bad leadership part. It should read more like Nixon (who largely started the ball with China), Ford, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama. Yes I know I left Carter out of the list but as history has played out as unpopular as his policies were at the time, he at least understood where things were headed and proactively attempted to avert them. Which is more than can be said for the other seven. If were gonna place blame let's make sure it goes to those who deserve it.

reply to post by KeliOnyx

You make a point I cannot argue about Nixon. Yes, that's probably the single most crucial point in American history, if people were to choose one, where things became irreversible and unstoppable. It was only a question of how many years and how much greed it would take to fully exploit what Nixon had done, to national destruction. I guess it took about 30 years ...and several Presidents with a pack full in Congress for whom personal gain means FAR more than any national interest.

When Nixon passed the "Shock" measures, as many came to call his actions, and took the Dollar off gold to basically let it float in fantasy land for value? I'm honestly not sure ANY President, however inspired, could have really stopped what has eventually come. After all, it gave the U.S leadership blank checks with bottomless accounts and no end to it. Ever. ....it was only a question of time.

When the day comes when corporations state they no longer have a need to hire people, then who will buy the products produced? I can assume that it will be hefty corporate taxation to support people hired by the government to monitor the corporations. After all, governments exist to regulate the activities of its people and oversee the activities of any entities such as corporations.

I was watching some left wing think tank spokesman make a very serious pitch for americans to stop being consumers and to make do with fewer material possessions and to live smaller. He also said that americans should have less hectic lives and work less. Work a part time job and let somebody else share the job. WTF???
Disability rates have grown alarmingly and its now only a very short time away when all that will come to a crashing end. Millions of people will be forced into the workforce, wages will drop, benefits will cease and crime will explode. You get some dingus whose never worked a day in their lives suddenly forced to work and how will you deal with that? if you are suddenly part time to accommodate them and they can't function, how will that affect the workplace? You get crappy service and violence will happen. They'll fight with coworkers and customers, customers will go off on rude employees. Barely literate or lingual immigrants, most of whom are illegal, will be mainstreamed and chaos will ensue.
Of course when it gets bad enough, the government will step in to restore order and to crack down so ensure everybodys safety and rights. Yeah, sure. They create the problem so how can we expect them to solve it?

Gotta love how there is a rise in the economy during the last three election cycles, 2008, 2010 and 2012
fake media reporting probably helped the uptick to help those dems running.

I'm so glad I'm in the oil business...
as long as liberals need their limousines and private jets I'll be fine.

When the day comes that the Gov cannot put monies onto those EBT cards and no more well fare steak/cheese, is the day that anarchy will reign.

People will rise up against the machine, they will start taking from stores to survive. Yea the gov will send in the troops but it will only be able to contain it for a short while, because it will spread from city to city town to town.

First the rich people will no longer be rich(except the elite), the poor people will just adapt to the new situation as they always have, except this time they will become involved in more criminal activities to help them survive.

As a whole, the U.S.A will become the biggest third world country on the planet, which is dangerous for the human race. Wars/ Famine /inhumane acts all in the name of survival. Weapons of mass destruction's for the whole world to use on the market.

There is a many folded reason why we are in the situation we are in, there isn't an easy answer, but it started with the loss of the blue collar jobs. As those manufacturing jobs slowly went overseas, so did America's future.

Those jobs which pulled folks into the middle class, once gone lowered those folks into the lower class. Those gigs haven't come back.

Why?

Because it is better for the bottom line, and the performance bonus for all the board members, to keep someone in a 3rd world country working for a penny a year to do it than to have the work done in America.

Folks tend to forget, companies aren't about making jobs but they are about making profit. Corporate profits are at an all time high and global unemployment is an staggeringly high #s too is proof positive of what I just said.

Just take a real look around when you are driving, what do you see now? Places to eat, places to shop and places to stay for the most part and that service based economy is doomed to fail w/o a manufacturing base/backbone.

Derek