The real problem here is how Washington has chosen to deal with the topic -- namely, cutting off unemployment benefits in the name of austerity. Frankly, I don't see how that can last more than a few months without all the people in Congress getting a really nasty earful from the folks back home. [Emphasis added] However, I could be wrong -- we are talking about Washington, after all.
Months? Months for the populace to wake up and give Washington an earful? Let's prove to Hale "Bonddad" Stewart of FiveThirtyEight that we're better than he thinks and give our Senators an earful today.
Hale Stewart continues on the continued bleak outlook.
Unemployment: job creation has been incredibly weak and the unemployment rate is still high at 9.5%. Initial jobless claims have been in the 450,000-480,000 range since the beginning of the year, indicating there is a fundamental issue with the employment market. Adding to the problems are the types of jobs lost. About 25% are construction, which won't be coming back anytime soon given the current situation in the housing market. About another 25% are manufacturing jobs, which also aren't coming back soon, largely because of increased productivity. As for the other jobs, there are four reasons why hiring has been slow: increased productivity, low capacity utilization, low hours worked and overall uncertainty. Simply put, it will take a long time for the unemployment rate to decline. [Emphasis Added]
The numbers: - 9.5% unemployment rate
- 14.6 million unemployed - nearly half, 6.8 million of the 14.6, have been unemployed for longer than 6 months - An additional 2.6 million people are unemployed (total of 17.2 million!) and want to work but were not counted in the statistics because they've given up looking for work - An additional unknown number of older unemployed have taken early Social Security retirement or Social Security disability - 2.1 million (and more than 50,000 more each day) are no longer receiving any benefits because the Senate (including our Democrats) failed to pass an extension - 2 to 4 million are ineligible for benefits due to being unemployed more than 99 weeksA Matter of Life And Death For Some:
There is a strong implication that the number of suicides is increasing due to unemployment and the lack of resources available to the unemployed.
An excerpt from Calls to Suicide Hotlines Skyrocket Along with Unemployment:
As joblessness rates rise, people are getting desperate. One of the saddest signs of the continuing recession to date, calls to suicide hotlines have risen nearly 20 percent.
We've chronicled how many people have been without a job for over two years, and how companies have begun to discriminate against the unemployed. Legislators are even making unemployment synonymous with criminal behavior, calling for drug testing for people receiving jobless benefits. Add to that serious debt, eviction, foreclosure and the like, and it's easy to see how it has become a perfect storm that is likely leading to rising suicide rates.
Although federal statistics on suicide rates are usually two to three years behind, counting the number of calls coming into a suicide hot line is a much more timely measure of how many people are facing desperate circumstances. The National Suicide Prevention Network, which operates hotlines around the country, says rates of calls have jumped 18 percent just between January and May of this year.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
- Contact your Senators and tell them that the unemployment benefits IS a top priority. Senators return from fiddling while Rome burns Monday.
- Don't ignore the problem of the unemployed. Contact the media and your progressive organizations (MoveOn, Organizing for America, the Democratic Party, etc.) and encourage them to organize and act on jobs, unemployment, and Great Recession issues.
- Contact your unemployed former colleague and invite him/her over to your house for a meal or coffee. He or she may not have the $ to join you for coffee at a restaurant but surely misses the day-to-day contact with fellow colleagues. Provide a listening ear, but don't ask "how's the job search going" -- if it's going well, he/she won't need any prompting to mention.
- Sign the petition to Congress at http://uspoverty.change.org
- If you are a manager of people, consider and talk with your employees about options such as reduced work schedules and paycuts rather than cutting employees.
Tales from the Unemployed: Our fellow Kossacks
Yesterday, litoralis commented:
I am one of those who lost unemployment benefits last week. Someone here on dkos made a comment that people are turning down jobs because they make more on unemployment. I was furious. I tried explaining to him that while unemployment benefits are meager in comparison to our previous salaries they do help keep the boat afloat, barely. When I was laid off almost a year ago we cut absolutely everything nonessential from our budget. It helped, but we barely scrape by.... so why should I take a job making less than my benefits when I know it will not be enough to make it? The only thing left to do is move, I love my home and it breaks my heart to consider it but I may not have a choice. I have to make payment arrangements on some bills and now my credit is ruined. I am 50 and will be 51 next month. Happy Birthday to me.
From fellow Kossack FrugalGranny's comments in yesterday's diary:
My hubby got laid off in April. We still haven't received an unemployment check yet. EDD (CA) was playing some games with him. It looks like things may be resolved soon though.
Before anyone asks, his former employer did NOT contest the unemployment. I was an immigration issue. For reasons that I won't explain, unemployment will NOT be a problem in regards to his legal status as an immigrant.
The whole unemployment situation is just terrible. I feel for those who have been out of work for so long. We've been lucky so far. My folks were able to help us out a bit, and we have no debt, thank goodness.