Thread: Joblessness reaches 15 year high

Joblessness reaches 15-yr. high
STATE UNEMPLOYMENT | Financial, manufacturing, construction here hardest-hit by national 'quagmire'

July 18, 2008Recommend (4)

BY FRANCINE KNOWLES fknowles@suntimes.com
Unemployment surged in Illinois in June to 6.8 percent, the highest level in 15 years, rising from 5 percent a year earlier.

The rate was up from 6.4 percent in May and exceeded the nation's 5.5 percent June unemployment rate, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday.


The biggest job losses in the state were suffered by those working in construction, down 7,200, and in manufacturing and financial activities, down 6,600 each. Losses were also seen in some service jobs and the government sector.

The news didn't surprise 48-year-old L.C. McDowell. He has 22 years' experience in construction. He has been looking for work for the last 14 months to help support his wife, who recently landed a job at the U.S. Post Office, and a 15-year-old daughter.

"I've been to so many places," he said as he prepared to enter a Department of Employment Security office in Chicago on Thursday. "Most places are either laying off or just not doing any hiring. I normally do demolition, but right now I'd take anything. Something is better than nothing."

Unique Hill has been looking for work in human resources since she got out of the U.S. Navy about 20 months ago.

"The economy is so shot," the 24-year-old said as she left the state Employment Security office Thursday with her 3-year-old son, Robert Louis.

"I've sent out 50 to 100 resumes. I do a lot on CareerBuilder, Monster," she said of those job sites. "I've got more hits in other states than I have here in Chicago. I'm thinking about going and relocating."

Some of the earlier layoffs nationally in the financial sector associated with problem mortgages are finally taking hold here, said Mesirow Financial Chief Economist Diane Swonk.

"The housing market is really starting to show its toll," she said. Illinois "is getting caught in the same quagmire that the U.S. economy has gotten into, but it's more severe given our automotive exposure" in the manufacturing sector, she noted.

Employers are concerned about how consumers will respond to the rapid rise in prices, said Mitch Daniels, labor market economist with the Department of Employment Security.

"A lot of businesses are concerned -- will consumers continue to spend? -- so businesses are hiring fewer people," he said. "That's across the lot of industries."

He noted Illinois for several months at the end of 2007 and through part of 2008 "fought off some of the national trends," and continued to be stable on the jobs front.

"Some of those negative national trends have caught up with the Illinois economy," he added. "You couldn't stand up in that tornado force or gale-force wind much longer without seeing some of those losses."

Year-over year, the state gained 8,000 jobs. But because more people were looking for work, the unemployment rate still spiked. For the unemployment rate to remain flat, the state would need to add 20,000 to 25,000 jobs each month, Daniels said.

The biggest job gains were in professional and business services, up 11,800, and in education and health services, up 11,600.

Job gains also were reported in trade, transportation and utilities, up 8,600; and in leisure and hospitality, up 1,200.

Between May and June, the state lost 6,100 jobs.
http://www.suntimes.com/business/106227 ... 18.article

Guess who is not counted in the unemployment rates?

Students without jobs (this is one reason high school pushes college), time run out for unemployment benefits, and part-time workers - these people are not in the count - these are three off the top. There have to be others not in the count, above.

Not counting these people suppresses the unemployment amount

Another oddity that is bothersome is the number of illegals with jobs compared with this rate number of the unemployed Americans?

You will be shocked to find that the numbers: of illegals working and of the unemployed Americans are about equal to each other.

Anyone that quit, or got fired, anyone trying to get back in the job market. A whole load of people aren't counted who are un-employed and looking. And we NEED all these people? These people need jobs and so do we. Not enough jobs to go around for the need out there.

But somehow, illegal aliens are getting jobs. Now why is that?
G-R-E-E-D!

But somehow, illegal aliens are getting jobs. Now why is that?
G-R-E-E-D!

Exactly.......

My husband is opening a restaurant near Hazleton. We will be I-9 compliant and will not hire anyone who cannot provide legal documentation of their ability to work.

Note to any potential applicants: ill-gotten IDs are not valid for work purposes, nor are voter registration cards.

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

Guess who is not counted in the unemployment rates?

Students without jobs (this is one reason high school pushes college), time run out for unemployment benefits, and part-time workers - these people are not in the count - these are three off the top. There have to be others not in the count, above.

Not counting these people suppresses the unemployment amount

Another oddity that is bothersome is the number of illegals with jobs compared with this rate number of the unemployed Americans?

You will be shocked to find that the numbers: of illegals working and of the unemployed Americans are about equal to each other.

Thanks vmonkey56. Good coverage of the issue. I am usually one of the squeakier wheels on this subject here. And, I'd just add to those groups outlined above are those that never even bothered to register for unemployment benefits (I think another poster mentions this in the thread somewhere...). Some estimates peg the relative proportions of people in the category at about %40-%50 of those who are newly 'unemployed'.
Imagine: about 1/2 of all those losing their jobs - never apply for unemployment and thus, and quite conveniently for the 'powers that be', they are only scantly represented in the official unemployment estimates.