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December 2009 Unemployment Rate Remains at 10%
The Labor Department released the latest job statistics for December 2009 – the unemployment rate remains at 10%. In November 2009, the rate was also 10% and 11,000 jobs were lost. However, a month later, in December, 85,000 jobs were lost. This is much better than 1 year ago. In January 2009, the economy shed 741,000 jobs and 4.2 million jobs vanished in 2009 alone. Still 15.3 million people are currently out of work
The problem is that
a staggering 6.3 million unemployed people were not counted in this report because these people have given up looking for work! There are also millions of people who are now working part-time when they want to work full time! With these additions, the
unemployment rate would be around 17%.
The Teenage Unemployment Rate
The teenage unemployment rate rose from 26.7% in November
to 27.1% in December. Many teens work to save up for college, and if teens don’t have jobs and are not earning money, then it
is going to be even more difficult for teens and their families to save for college.
Unemployment Rate = 10.2% for October 2009
On Friday, November 6, 2009, the Labor Department released the unemployment rate for October 2009—a grim 10.2% (up from 9.8% in September 2009 and up from 6.8% in November 2008), making this the greatest unemployment rate since 1983. The Labor Department also reported that 190,000 jobs were lost in October, which is better than the 219,000 jobs lost in September, but the jobless rate still increased from September 2009. Currently, 16 million people are unemployed, which raises the following question: How can the economy ever recover, when we have a double-digit unemployment rate that is expected to jump even higher? Now on November 6, 2009, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10,000, leading many to believe the economic downturn is on its way out. But these unemployment statistics ruin any good news from the Dow. It is clear that this economy is in dire need of jobs. Without jobs, it is unlikely that our financial situation can substantially improve. Not only do we need to save existing jobs, but we must create new jobs for the future. This way, there is actual job growth, as opposed to fewer job losses each month.
A Sigh of Relief – Unemployment Drops from 10.2% to 10% - November 2009
The economy has been losing jobs each month since the very
end of 2007. Friday morning, the Department of Labor released the latest unemployment data for November 2009. The report
revealed some good news: The jobless rate dropped to 10% from 10.2% (the unemployment rate in October) with 11,000 jobs lost in November,
the lowest number of jobs lost for a one month period in almost 2 years. These numbers for November were much better than the
196,000 jobs lost in October and the 741,000 lost in January 2009. This latest unemployment data came as a surprise, since many
economists expected the rate to remain at 10.2% or slightly increase. Will the unemployment rate continue to decrease? After the holidays, many temporary jobs will likely disappear, which could cause the jobless rate to climb upward again. In
fact, according to the Department of Labor, 52,400 temporary jobs were added in November. There is no guarantee that those temporary
jobs will stay after the holidays.
It is important to note that this latest unemployment data does not take into account
the 1.2 million people over the last 6 months who have ceased their job search. With the addition of these people, the unemployment
rate would be around 15%. It’s no surprise that such a large number of people have simply stopped looking for jobs because the
average time it takes to find a new job is 28 weeks.
The stock market responded positively to the drop in the jobless
rate. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up almost 23 points on December 4, 2009.
The Teenage Unemployment
Rate
In addition to the national unemployment rate, the Department of Labor also released the teenage jobless rate, which for
November 2009 was 26.7%, down from 27.6% in October. While this decrease in the teenage unemployment rate is encouraging, it
is still almost 3 times greater than the national unemployment rate. Now the teen jobless rate tends to be higher than the national
one due to the limited amount and types of jobs available for teens. However, many teens work to save up for college, and if
teens don’t have jobs and are not earning money, then it is going to be even more difficult for teens and their families to save for
college. The teenage unemployment rate is a serious issue that is rarely analyzed.
The Teenage Unemployment Rate for October 2009
The national unemployment rate is 10.2%, according to the Department of Labor.
However, a very important figure is often overlooked and rarely discussed. That figure is the teenage unemployment rate (ages
16-19), which stands at a staggering 27.6%, as of October 2009! This is up from 25.9% in September and 25.5% in August.
Now the teen unemployment rate will be higher than the national jobless rate because there is a higher probability that teens will
be unemployed due to the limited number and types of jobs available for teens. This latest figure is certainly worrisome
among parents and teens. Many teens work to save money for discretionary expenses in high school, college tuition and personal
expenses while in college. These jobs usually won't pay for the entire college tuition, but they do help to ease the pain of
paying for college. If teens are not working and making money, it's going to be even harder for them to save for college.
The teen unemployment rate is a hidden peril in our economy. Also, teenage employment teaches teens about responsibility, budgeting
and saving money--skills that are critical for success. What can teens do? Offer to work for a lower wage than the going
rate, or contact local corporate businesses and inquire about internships, where you can gain valuable knowledge and experience to
build your resume. Most important, don't give up looking for opportunities - you only need one job!
Jan. 2010 Unemployment = 9.7%
On February 5, 2010, the Department of Labor released the latest unemployment statistics for last
month, January 2010. The unemployment rate now stands at 9.7%, down from 10% in December 2009 (a 0.3% drop). There are
currently 14.8 million people without jobs, down from 15.3 million in December 2009. This is encouraging news. One year
ago in January 2009, the economy shed 741,000 jobs. Now one year later in January 2010, the economy shed a mere 20,000 jobs.
Retail stores created around 42,000 jobs in January. However, according to the Department of Labor, the number of jobs
in construction decreased.
Stocks reacted positively to this news – The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended February 5th up 10.05,
closing at 10,012.23.
Again, this data does not include those who’ve given up looking for work and those people who are working
part-time even though they’d like to be working full time.
The Teenage Unemployment Rate
The teenage unemployment rate
was also released by the Department of Labor for January 2010, which now stands at 26.4%, better 27.1%, which was the teenage unemployment
rate in December 2009.
There are several reasons for the increase in the number of jobs lost. This report was conducted in mid-February, when major snowstorms dumped record levels of snow on the Northeast, forcing some businesses to halt operations, and thus many people were unable to work. Therefore, the unemployment data may have been affected by the inclement weather conditions during February.
Job creation is essential for economic growth. This data does not include those who have ceased their job search and/or those who are now only working part-time, due to the shortage of full time jobs. With the addition of these individuals, the unemployment rate would be much higher - upwards of 17%.
Last Thursday, the House passed a $15 billion jobs bill and the Senate is likely to vote on this later next week. This bill aims to help employers and small business owners by allowing them to forgo paying Social Security tax on the payroll of new workers who were previously out of work.
Will more spending help the economy? Some say that an increase in spending will only hurt the economy in the long run and since the $862 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from February 2009 did not stimulate the economy as planned, there are few reasons to believe that this jobs bill will help the economy. On the other hand, if the jobs bill creates more jobs and achieves its goal, the economic rewards from an increase in employment would be worth the extra spending.