Unemployment creeps up to 9.5%
posted at 10:11 am on July 2, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
The nation’s unemployment woes continued in June as the rate moved up a tenth of a percentage point to 9.5%. The US lost jobs across all sectors, with the exception of public employment in government, education, and health industries. Long-term unemployment increased to 30% of the total:
Nonfarm payroll employment continued to decline in June (-467,000), and the unemployment rate was little changed at 9.5 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job losses were widespread across the major industry sectors, with large declines occurring in manufacturing, professional and business services, and construction. …
In June, unemployment rates for the major worker groups–adult men (10.0 percent), adult women (7.6 percent), teenagers (24.0 percent), whites (8.7 percent), blacks (14.7 percent), and Hispanics (12.2 percent)–showed little change. The unemployment rate for Asians was 8.2 percent, not seasonally adjusted.
Other than government jobs, the situation continues to look bleak:
Employment in manufacturing fell by 136,000 over the month and has declined by 1.9 million during the recession. Within the durable goods industry, motor vehicles and parts (-27,000), fabricated metal products (-18,000), computer and electronic products (-16,000), and machinery (-14,000) continued to lose jobs in June. Since the recession began, employment in motor vehicles and parts has declined by 335,000, or about one-third.
In June, employment in construction fell by 79,000, with losses spread throughout the industry. Since the start of the recession, construction employment has fallen by 1.3 million. Mining employment fell by 8,000 in June, about in line with the average monthly decline since its recent peak in October 2008.
Employment in the professional and business services industry declined by 118,000 in June. This industry has shed 1.5 million jobs since an employment peak in December 2007. Within this sector, employment in temporary help services fell by 38,000 in June; this industry has lost 848,000 jobs since the start of the recession.
Clearly, the nation is heading in the wrong direction. There isn’t a single sign of job recovery in this latest report despite four months of Porkulus spending. Not one single sector except for government shows job growth, or even a hint of it.
Three months ago, Obama bragged that his stimulus had begun to create a “rush” to hire construction workers. Since then, the construction industry has lost over 120,000 jobs, and this month’s report shows that trend accelerating at a season when construction should normally be hiring.
Porkulus has utterly failed, as has the Obama administration’s fiscal policies. Businesses have conserved capital in the face of massive new taxes and costs associated with Obama’s stated fiscal policies, such as cap-and-trade, foreign-income taxation, and the higher interest rates that will spring from the massive deficits Obama plans to create. The capital necessary for growth won’t appear in the market under these conditions, as we have clearly seen. When will the media begin to hold this administration responsible for Obama’s economy-killing agenda?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2 3 4
Instapundit has it that a majority of voters now can’t remember if they voted for frankenstein or not.
Wonder how the vote would go if it were today?
Lanceman on July 2, 2009 at 1:30 PM
CA is in deep trouble, but not due to me. I voted against the tax increases.
And I didn’t vote for Obama.
So stick it.
AnninCA on July 2, 2009 at 1:24 PM
Well Im not buying the “I didnt vote for Obama” crap lol…sorry. Its obvious you did, but thats beside the point. Everyone here knows you did. Its very evident.
As for California being in trouble, uh yeah..thats a bit of an understatement. Cali is on the verge of total bankruptcy but Im sure Dear Leader Obama will order the rest of us pay off Cali’s debt. Im sure Barry will raise our taxes to fund a California Recovey Act or some such ridiculous shit. Dont worry, you wont be forced to change your ignorant ways out there…rather the rest of us will be forced to foot the bill for liberalism run amuck.
Ann…dont you think this economy is just clicking along great? Its just awesome Obamanomics baby!
Jackson1227 on July 2, 2009 at 1:32 PM
Don’t waste your valuable time trying to reason with AnninCA, she’s a bought and paid for troll currently employed by David Axelrod. She’s showed her true colors by her support for TurboTax Timmy and Hank Paulson.
Her solution, as she’s posted many times, is that nationalized healthcare is the ticket to fixing our economy.
Eyeroll….
Knucklehead on July 2, 2009 at 1:37 PM
To be clear: even government jobs aren’t safe.
Ahnuld already has state workers laid off two days a month, and wants to add a third day.
corona on July 2, 2009 at 1:39 PM
No, you’re just not very astute. I voted McCain/Palin.
I attended teaparties. And I’m now absolutely looking for Independents and/or new voices in CA to support, since CA is a complete disaster.
Yes, I’m very much for the public option, and am liberal on several other issues, too.
Welcome to the “gray” world, where we all don’t fit into your tidy little boxes.
AnninCA on July 2, 2009 at 1:41 PM
Most State’s have passed large tax increases to deal with their budget shortfalls and to provide “Stimulus” for their economies.
Add that to the federal tax increases coming down the pipe to pay for all the debt thats being created.
Add that to the fact that the average family is going to have to pay nearly double for its power / utility useage once “Cap and Trade” gets adopted.
Add that to the fact that most responsible people have seen their retirement savings halved and simply cannot afford to retire.
Add that to the taxes people are going to have to pay for their employer provided health care.
Add that to the tax increases the new government “option” health care is going to require.
And what do you get?
ZERO money to invest (no capital available to expand businesses), ZERO money to spend on purchases (no consumer spending to boost the economy), Zero ability to create manufacturing jobs (due to the draconian penalties on “carbon” emissions).
And that means America becomes a third-world nation with large swaths of population totally dependent upon government for their very survival – Just what the Dems want to assure themselves of permanent power.
Fatal on July 2, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Fatal…one problem will be that people will not be affected by the tax increases, since they don’t earn enough to count.
I see a class war in the future, for sure.
AnninCA on July 2, 2009 at 1:45 PM
Only the first response was too Ann.
Dark-Star on July 2, 2009 at 1:45 PM
I missed something here. I was just trying to give a little moral support because I remember how tough it was after I graduated. It was rough competing with all the experienced folks and tons of other grads for the few low-paying jobs that were available. No offense intended and only good wishes offered.
By fight the good fight, I mean that we hammer at our congressional rats by phone and fax, support media that calls out the disasterous policies that are killing our Republic, and boycott businesses and media that prop up this destructive government.
Laura in Maryland on July 2, 2009 at 1:48 PM
What worries me is I’d like to know how the determination of unemployment is made. Is it based on the numbers who request unemployment benefits, ’cause the stats always seem to be based on new enrollees? And what happens when the millions upon millions run out of unemployment insurance (13-26 weeks)? Would this equate into some sort of statistical surge of people working all of a sudden? And maybe Obama is counting on millions running out of benefits so he can say that, see, people have jobs now.
There has to be another way to analyze this. How did the government come up with unemployment figures during the Depression, as unemployment insurance did not exist??
betsyz on July 2, 2009 at 1:52 PM
None taken and thank you.
Phone and fax messages get redirected to an answering machine. The most you get to do is vent your spleen. The secretaries delete anything that isn’t 100% supportive.
Practically nonexistent.
The former is nearly impossible. The latter I can do…but then again I watch almost no TV in the first place, nor subscribe to any newspapers.
Dark-Star on July 2, 2009 at 1:52 PM
We’ve had some success with our phone calls. They know when the switchboards are burning up and voters are angry. Look at Specter changing sides. He got the message loud and clear, and it just might bite him in the butt. It isn’t much, but we do what we can do.
Laura in Maryland on July 2, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Well except for maybe Goldman Sachs (aka Government Smacks). I understand they are doing very well with all the help they get from their low friends in high places..
MB4 on July 2, 2009 at 2:07 PM
Don’t tax Grandma to make Goldman Sachs Rich!
MB4 on July 2, 2009 at 2:12 PM
Obama has already increased the class warfare to dangerous levels.
It would be a shame if another civil war started during his presidency.
izoneguy on July 2, 2009 at 2:14 PM
Yeah, my blood’s so mad feels like coagulatin’
I’m sitting here just contemplatin’
He can twist the truth, his conscience knows no regulation.
Trillions of dollars foe his socialist legislation
And tea rallies alone can’t bring sane fiscalation
When the American economy is disintegratin’
This whole crazy Obama world is just too frustratin’
And you tell me
Over and over and over again, my friend
Ah, you don’t believe
We’re on the eve
of destruction.
MB4 on July 2, 2009 at 2:14 PM
The 9% number is ‘U3′. it eliminates a bunch of other unemployed/underemployed persons.
The ‘U6′, a number closer to what you are asking, for June 2009, is:
16.5%
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm
(p.s. – an actual great depression-style calculation would get us about 18-20% right NOW. and of course, remember, the unemployment varies by state — ie, michigan has had double digit unemployment for two years. plus, minorities are harder hit. the current “U6″ for hispanics is likely 18%, for blacks, probably 20% (which could also be skewed by the 2+ million blacks in michigan that has bad employment anyway, but whatever. anyway you slice it, it’s by FAR the worst economic era since 1982, in the blip when reagan took over but the carter policies were still in place; soon it will be worse than 82 and match carter-era levels; i doubt it matches depression levels… 20% unemployment in general wouldnt be pretty. riots, crime, unrest…. itd be a back to the future II-like hell)
battleoflepanto1571 on July 2, 2009 at 2:21 PM
Well, this waste of skin seems to think he’s Abe Lincoln.
The south shall rise again!
HornetSting on July 2, 2009 at 2:53 PM
Since we are talking about jobs, etc., here is a GOP video
ad, via freerepublic. Real cute, true too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tl_q0afUl0E
bluefox on July 2, 2009 at 3:30 PM
Here in Michigan Jennifer Granholm bragged about the 18 Billion Michigan was getting from this administration. A month later each county in Michigan was required to cut no less than $1MIL from thier already exhausted budgets and over 171 road work projects were cancelled due to a $741MIL short fall in the funding for roads.
WE ARE IN A DEPRESSION! The ready to spend democrats whom have been waiting 8 years for thier turn to exhuast the budget are simply in denial.
I’m in commercial business insurance. This month I wrote several policies that were way down in premium due to large reductions in thier work force. I also had 6 clients simply close thier doors and call it quits. This trend is exhausting and unfortunately I see no end to it. I’m 39 and my generation will never get to see the standard of living that our parents enjoyed.
MichiganMatt on July 2, 2009 at 3:36 PM
Excellent, thanks for posting this.
Jeff from WI on July 2, 2009 at 3:38 PM
So what are the “liberal” issues you support?
Jeff from WI on July 2, 2009 at 3:41 PM
I hate when people – especially idiot newspeople – say you can have a $1M house for $500K. If you can have it for $500K….guess what? It’s a $500K house, not a $1M house.
angryed on July 2, 2009 at 4:09 PM
I think I can say with 99.99999% confidence that nobody who attended a tea party is for nationalized health care.
You are full of crap.
angryed on July 2, 2009 at 4:11 PM
wow…I told myself I could post if someone actually asked.
I am very much in favor of gay marriage and ALL issues relating to that segment.
I am very liberal on healthcare. I really want a public option.
I very much am liberal on Palestine/Israel. I do respect Palestine’s issues. I don’t respect Hammas. I do respect Palestinian people.
I am very liberal on a shift in public national security policy. I thought Bush represented the emotional reactions of Americans after 9/11….rightfully. I was never a “Bush-hater.”
But it’s natural that we’re moving on.
I’m really liberal on a ton of issues.
I can’t see the GOP ever being “my” party, due to that.
I am very much Independent. I don’t see the Dems representing me, either.
So I think, every candidate will need to outline their positions. I’ll vote based on what I think the country needs to focus upon to thrive.
AnninCA on July 2, 2009 at 4:15 PM
I can comfortably say….you’re wrong.
I most definitely enjoyed attending my teaparty, and that has nothing to do with my stance on public option healthcare.
You’re just into black/white thinking.
AnninCA on July 2, 2009 at 4:21 PM
AnninCA,
Tea Parties are about Liberty and Freedom.
Government run healthcare is about Tyranny and Oppression.
Never the twain shall meet.
Jack Ketch on July 2, 2009 at 5:08 PM
I am very
liberalmuch a socialist on healthcare. I really want a public option.I very much am
liberala hater of Jews on Palestine/Israel. I do respect Palestine’s issues. I don’t respect Hammas. I do respect Palestinian people.AnninCA on July 2, 2009 at 4:15 PM
FIFY
angryed on July 2, 2009 at 5:15 PM
I understand that people like the idea of things like universal health care, because they worry that they can not afford to pay the costs of being ill. I just do not think that the public option will work and I don’t think it will cover all the costs or all the people who are not insured. In fact I am not sure that it won’t make matters worse. Years of dealing with the government has left me less than confident in its ability to create a fair and workable system.
I think one of the reasons that the employment situation has not improved is that Obama is trying to do too much…too many promises about everything from health care to global warming legislation. All that uncertainty is bad for the economy.
I think the government needs to take a back to basics approach until things are somewhat more settled than they are now.
Terrye on July 2, 2009 at 5:30 PM
Ann:
That might be true in California, but I am in Indiana and I know some people here who are involved in things like the Tea Party movement and not one of them supports government health care. In fact they are more than likely to be small libertarians than liberals who think it is the function of government to provide health care as a right.
Terrye on July 2, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Wait till the revision comes out. It will be worse.
jharada on July 2, 2009 at 6:39 PM
Today’s numbers are counted differently then during the Depression era. In those days, only those who were working full time were counted as employed. The remained of the workforce were the unemployed.
After going through many revisions on how to count, today we count all non-working people by the number who are collecting some form of unemployment.
If you want to comppare the number announced today with the 30’s, then the official number (as seen on Fox) is 17% v. 23.6%.
Just remember, every day someone’s unemployment benefit runs out. When that occurrs, those people are no longer counted in the oficial number like today’s 9.5%. This tactic and others help keep the number artificially low.
And is how politicains hide the true number of unemployed from the public.
After the Dems pass Cap N Tax, these numbers will skyrocket, and we’ll wish we were living in the Great Depression when times where great.
Friendly21 on July 2, 2009 at 7:00 PM
We’ll all wish it would only be 20%. Forcasts I heard several days ago were for the offical number to approach 15% – so the actual number will be far higher than 20.
Friendly21 on July 2, 2009 at 7:06 PM
Obama will change the reporting criteria before that happens. Americans, more than most cultures place importance in “what you do.” He can’t afford to have nearly a quarter (using the unreported numbers) of Americans dissatisfied with their lot in life. Dissatisfied Americans do not vote for the status quo which is what Obama is seeking to instititionalize. Dissatisfied Americans do not re-elect untested incompetent Chicago street thugs.
highhopes on July 2, 2009 at 8:23 PM
Unemployment rate is not based on who gets benefits or who files for benefits.
From BLS.gov:
Persons are classified as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks, and are currently available for work
So someone who has been out of work for a year but decided to stop looking for work 32 days ago is not counted as unemployed. It’s a stupid, subjective measure. And it’s even more useless because it is all done via a poll of a few thousand people every month. Yes that’s right, the govt makes some calls, asks people if they are working or not, and that’s how they get the unemployment rate. And it’s not like a poll can be distorted to get the results you want….NO, that’s crazy talk.
angryed on July 2, 2009 at 8:36 PM
very true, the great depression was a deflationary depression…ours will be an inflationary depression ala zimbabwe…
right4life on July 2, 2009 at 9:34 PM
I tried to warn people about Obiteme during the campaign.
Now that I have lost my job due to Obamonomics, the first thing moonbats say to me (in a hopenchange whiney voice) is, “I bet you’re glad our messiah has increased your unemployment benefits through the stimulus package.” I tell them, “It’s the least our idiot president could do after trashing the economy!” They don’t even let me finish my explanation before they start breathing heavily, their heads start spinning and the subject is changed stat.
HellCat on July 2, 2009 at 10:18 PM
Not sure if you guys saw this, but males are being particularly victimized by the current recession – manufacturing and construction are being hit hard.
But female-dominated industries like health care and education are fine – they’ve added jobs!
It turns out that women’s groups LOBBIED Obama to avoid helping men, as well:
http://www.openmarket.org/2009/06/25/obamas-job-killing-stimulus-package-replaced-investments-with-welfare-out-of-political-correctness/
winteryknight on July 2, 2009 at 11:15 PM
So unemployment “crept up” from 9.4 to 9.5 percent, hmm?
Thank heaven we have an honest, politically-independent Labor Department to provide us with the good news.
Looks like that stimulus is creating and saving, huh? Otherwise, gosh, this month’s number was looking like it was gonna be over the dreaded 10% mark.
guntotinglibertarian on July 2, 2009 at 11:52 PM
First off, let’s not use leftist speech here. The “public option” is government run health insurance, private insurance is the real public option. What you support is the government becoming an insurance company. The only difference is that the government can write off their net losses to the taxpayers while private companies can’t. This gives the government an unfair advantage to competitors in the private market and will drive the private health insurance companies out of the market. As the government option becomes the only option it soon becomes economically unsustainable and drives our government into massive debt. Don’t you think that a better solution is to expand medicare to help those who cannot get approved for health care in the private market instead of forcing everyone into a public system?
Dollayo on July 2, 2009 at 11:57 PM
I can confirm all your suspicions about this lying Troll AnninCA.
I know she voted for Obama. She claims she voted for Palin and now she even “likes” Palin (even though AnninCA is rabid over abortion).
AnninCA was all over the PUMA site “No Quarter” posting very frequently during the primary and election cycle. If she was truly a PUMA, and voted McCain, then why would they try to chase her off the site. She drove the PUMAS crazy trolling on No Quarter.
So trust your instincts, she is a fraud. A concern troll. I know.
Geochelone on July 3, 2009 at 2:57 AM
I can confirm all your suspicions about this lying Troll AnninCA.
I know she voted for Obama. She claims she voted for Palin and now she even “likes” Palin (even though AnninCA is rabid over abortion).
It’s best if you believe no one on a blog. Take each post at face value.
What really gets me is the fact that many people haven’t figured out that:
A: You need not read anything from a particular person.
B: You need not comment about anything written by a particular person.
C: You need not respond to anything written TO YOU by a particular person.
Jeff from WI on July 3, 2009 at 6:50 AM
CHANGE & HOPE
MY A$$
bluegrass on July 3, 2009 at 8:20 AM
This was the kind of Change I was afraid of.
I think it’s time to grass root a tea party for DC 7/4/10. Make it so big, NO ONE will be able to ignore it, especially the Bamster and his loony friends.
mmcnamer1 on July 3, 2009 at 10:00 AM
So THAT’s what a funemployment line looks like!
No thanks.
Sweet_Thang on July 3, 2009 at 12:03 PM
9.5% is the official number.
The real number is likely double the government number.
ama on July 3, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Wait just 1 minute; didn’t this clown say it wouldn’t go above 8.8% if his pork bill was passed?
Neither Dumbo or his advisor’s have ANY economic sense!!
mmcnamer1 on July 4, 2009 at 11:11 AM
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2 3 4