[oxj]

U6 is 12.5%
U3 is 6.7%

And SGS-Alternate is 17% unemployment, not too far from 25%. Stats

[neocone]

Today's mass media doesn't even come close to the genius of Dr. Goebbels.

Always imitated never duplicated...

[JJ]

I was in the grocery store the other night and i overheard this fat pig of a lady talking about her work. I moved closer pretending i was looking at something (it could have been tampons...i wasn't paying attention). So this oversized beast continued to talk about how her hours had been cut, that now they don't have anyone cleaning the building so its very dirty, etc etc. This lady had enough in reserves to last 6 months without another paycheck. I didn't look what was in her cart, but i can imagine the snack food aisle needed RESTOCKING!
God i'm mean... forgive me

I don't know. It bothers me a lot. I work in a grocery store; I even said something one day to the store manager about how we are the problem (like a bartender serving alcohol to an alcoholic) we're selling stuff to make people fat. She said, "Oh your safe, you work in produce..."
Its insane, though. I think if I had to descride the average Burnet, Texas resident, it would be an "angry, obese person wearing crocs and texting on their cellphone while driving their SUV a block to the grocery store..."
Listing to their conversations during the course of the day is maddening. Very, very few people seem to have a clue how much trouble we are in. Most people only care about who got thrown off the island or won American idol or whatever. Of course, I'm viewed as a nutjob.

[Plantagenet]

Obama's plan to create 2.5 million new jobs is looking better and better.

[Ludi]

I think if I had to descride the average Burnet, Texas resident, it would be an "angry, obese person wearing crocs and texting on their cellphone while driving their SUV a block to the grocery store..."

I wonder why folks are angry in Burnet? Folks don't seem angry down here, everyone is generally pleasant, smiling...

[Dreamtwister]

I wonder why folks are angry in Burnet? Folks don't seem angry down here, everyone is generally pleasant, smiling..

Yeah really. I thought fat people were supposed to be jolly...

[JJ]

I think if I had to descride the average Burnet, Texas resident, it would be an "angry, obese person wearing crocs and texting on their cellphone while driving their SUV a block to the grocery store..."

I wonder why folks are angry in Burnet? Folks don't seem angry down here, everyone is generally pleasant, smiling...

my co-workers and myself have done quite a bit of discussion as to why everyone is always so angry, and the conclusion we have come to is that most folks are retired and living on fixed incomes, (while the grocery prices here have nearly doubled)and watching it all evaporate. There's one old couple that has been coming in the grocery for years; their faces are sooo angry. If you try to sack their groceries, its "get your G-d damn hands off my groceries." One day the old man said to me "If the Democrats win this election, their gonna fix this mess." (I hear this alot). One day I said to him "Looks like the Democrats are gonna win" and he said "if that ni99er wins we're done, somebody will shoot him before he gets in office."

For some reason, that broke the ice with them, and they always smile and tell me hello when they come in the store. It got me to thinking that no-one really knows anything about anyone else. Maybe something horrible happened to them (for example, all their children were killed) that made them bitter about life.

[Tyler_JC]

U6 is 12.5%
U3 is 6.7%

And SGS-Alternate is 17% unemployment, not too far from 25%. Stats

And how exactly is this 17% calculated?

U6 includes nearly all of the information that Shadow Stats claims is missing from the unemployment reports (discouraged workers, marginally attached workers, part timers wanting full time, etc.).

What is missing from the U6 report, I wonder.

* U1: Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
* U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
* U3: Official unemployment rate per ILO definition.
* U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.
* U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
* U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but can not due to economic reasons.

[Zardoz]

Obama's plan to create 2.5 million new jobs is looking better and better.

What does he have to do with this November jobs report?

Why the off-topic post?

[Plantagenet]

Obama's plan to create 2.5 million new jobs is looking better and better.

What does he have to do with this November jobs report?

Please read the November jobs report in the link at the start of this topic. Unemployment is rising rapidly in the U.S. When employment goes down, then new jobs are needed to replace the lost jobs. That means Obama's program to create 2.5 million new jobs after he takes office will be most timely.

[Armageddon]

When employment goes down, then new jobs are needed to replace the lost jobs.

* scratches head *

[JJ]

more good news
http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

[PrairieMule]

When employment goes down, then new jobs are needed to replace the lost jobs.

* scratches head *

Maybe they will all become Amway distributors. I understand Amway has exactly 2.5 million openings as independent distributors. Last month 67 million Americans believed a man with no experience in the private sector could fix the economy. It couldn't be that hard for 2.5 million people to persuade the other 67 million to buy soap and vitamins from them.

[Sixstrings]

JJ Wrote:

I don't know. It bothers me a lot. I work in a grocery store; I even said something one day to the store manager about how we are the problem (like a bartender serving alcohol to an alcoholic) we're selling stuff to make people fat. She said, "Oh your safe, you work in produce..."

JJ,
If you really think that the industry you work in is "part of the problem," then look at the flip side -- you're in the best position to make a difference.

Here's an idea. Talk to your manager about the store doing some cooking demonstration booths. Customers love that stuff, they get those little samples and get to chat and grab a recipe.

Something as simple as learning to use wheat flour to make things from scratch can make a real difference. Finding uses for oatflour (just grind quaker old fashioned oats in a blender) is excellent, lowers your cholesteral big time.

You said you work in produce, well there's countless very healthy veggie recipes you could demonstrate.

[Sixstrings]

I think we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg with these job losses. I've read that 3/4 of the losses for November were consumer related -- in retail, hotel and restaurant.

So it will just spread from there. Healthcare, government work, and schools continue to be pretty safe bets.

[Rogozhin]

You're all not welcome to visit the republic of Rogozhin.

[Zardoz]

What are all you people worrying and fretting about? According to CNBC, happy days are here again:

Huge Job Losses Could Be Signal That Worst Is Over

The sky has fallen. The sun also rises.
If there was ever a time to remind investors that the labor market is a lagging economic indicator, economists say today is such a day. Once the knee-jerk, doom-and-gloom reaction is over, something resembling optimism will prevail with the conclusion that the worst is over for the economy.
“This is history,” says veteran Wall Street economist Ram Bhagavatula. “December payrolls will be weak as well. The leading indicators will come from a slow re-activation of the credit markets and increases in consumer spending. You should begin to see that in the next couple of months.”...
...Economists say there’s a lot of tailwind to drive an economic recovery and already emerging signs of one.
“There's now starting to be some visibility about how this might end.” Says David Resler, chief economist at Nomura International.

I feel so much better now that these experts have straightened me out. I thought job losses like we're seeing now was a bad thing. I had no idea it meant we were beginning a whole new cycle of booming growth!

[Plantagenet]

The average recession lasts about 10 months. This one has already gone 12 months.

As soon as Obama is inaugurated and gives yet another inspiring speech, the country will get a huge jolt of confidence and it will be time to wrap up and end the recession and get back to growth.

[Sixstrings]

It's amazing what you can learn when you read. I hear a lot of people cite the GD unemployment rate as 25%. The fact is that, despite the dustbowl, the agricultural sector help up stronger than others.

So if you don't take farmworkers into account, GD unemployment was actually around 39%. And in some cities, like Toledo OH, it was 80%.

So that's a random thought to keep in mind when we're all thinking about unemployment rates. What really matters is what SECTOR you're employed in.

[Sixstrings]

As many as a million American jobs could be lost every month by next spring as businesses struggle to raise capital in financial markets consumed by fear, according to a new analysis.

November was the worst month in the US labour market since the oil crisis of 1974, as more than 500,000 US workers were laid off, according to official figures released on Friday.

But Graham Turner, of consultancy GFC Economics, says the rising cost of corporate debt is now flashing a red warning signal that far worse is to come over the next few months and job losses are heading for levels last seen in the 1930s Great Depression.

Corporate bond yields have rocketed since the credit crisis began as investors flee risky assets in search of safe havens such as US Treasuries. That effectively means many firms are being forced to pay eye-watering interest rates to borrow funds.

Turner says when the gap between the yield on high-risk company bonds and US Treasuries widens sharply, unemployment tends to shoot up - and current credit conditions are pointing to a doubling in the pace of layoffs, to more than a million workers a month, by spring.

'The correlation is holding up all too well,' he said. 'It's very disconcerting.' He added that the pace of layoffs already happening in the US 'is indicative of panic'. During the 1970s oil crisis the panic was relatively short-lived, he says. 'But the worry now is that this will just roll on and on.'

On Friday alone, embattled car firm General Motors, fund manager Legg Mason, and motor parts supplier Gentex announced plans to shed staff.

November's jobs figures were so much worse than analysts had expected that the Dow Jones share index actually rallied by 259 points, more than 3 per cent, as investors bet that Washington would have to launch a major new rescue package for the economy even before President-elect Barack Obama takes over the White House in January.

The scale of the layoffs in the US, which pushed unemployment to 6.7 per cent, could also point towards a further deterioration in conditions in the UK: David Blanchflower, an independent member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee and labour market specialist, warned recently: 'What happens in the US tends to be repeated six to nine months later in Britain'.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008 ... job-losses