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Unemployment
Quick Hit
by Robert Dietz
1:50pm
Mon Jan 31, 2011
105 comments

The Cost Of Long-Term Unemployment

Stocks continue to rise, but the forecast looks even bleaker for the nation's unemployed. As corporate profits soar, so do the number of workers who have been unemployed for the long term. This news should be troubling to everyone, even the fat cats on Wall Street and those in Washington complaining about too much government spending.

A new study (PDF) by the Pew Charitable Trusts finds that 30 percent of the unemployed in America have been without work for over a year. That is an increase from a year ago when 23 percent had been unemployed for the long term, and its the highest percentage recorded since World War II. The shear number of long-term unemployed stands at 4.2 million people, an increase of 25 percent from a year ago.

In case anyone thinks this is just a problem for those looking for work, think again. The study reported, "Federal spending on unemployment benefits is projected to total $129 billion in fiscal year 2011, roughly four times more than spending in each of the years immediately preceding the recession." That should wake up those deficit hawks and serve as a reminder of the expense everyone pays for long-term unemployment.

Quick Hit
by Robert Dietz
12:47pm
Thu Jan 27, 2011
15 comments

State Of American Workers Is Not Strong

During his State of the Union speech, President Obama highlighted the signs of the nation's recovery from the Great Recession. He pointed to a rise in the stock market and noted that "corporate profits are up." He then added, "But we have never measured progress by these yardsticks alone. We measure progress by the success of our people." And by that measure, the country has a way to go.

In almost every statistical category, American workers are worse off than they were a decade ago, while the rich are getting richer. Foreclosures and health insurance premiums are through the roof. The jobless rate in the country is still above 9 percent, and there are 1.4 million of the so-called 99ers, those who have been without work for at least 99 weeks and therefore are ineligible to receive unemployment benefits. The interest-free loans provided by the federal government to the states to pay for unemployment insurance are gone.

Part of the theater of the State of the Union is for the president to announce his accomplishments and to use it as a bully pulpit to drive the conversation and set an agenda. And although there are plenty of reasons for the business community to be happy with the direction of things, the speech was also a reminder that while the state of the union may look strong from Wall Street, the rest of the country continues to face a tough road.

Quick Hit
by Robert Dietz
11:41am
Tue Jan 25, 2011
11 comments

Number Of The Day: 1.4 Million

That's how many people in the country have been unemployed for at least 99 weeks, which is the maximum amount of time people can receive unemployment benefits. That means there are 1.4 million people who are out of work and aren't receiving any financial help from the federal government. The new figure is the result of a study by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), which used employment data from October.

The so-called 99ers make up a group of very long-term unemployed. In addition to the 1.4 million who have been unemployed for 99 weeks, the CRS study found that, as of December, 6.4 million people fall into the long-term unemployed category, meaning they have been jobless for six months. Thanks to a deal brokered by President Barack Obama during the lame-duck session, this group of the long-term jobless are still receiving aid.

The numbers are disturbing. The longer people are unemployed, the harder it is for them to find a job. As the Huffington Post noted in its report on the CRS study, "Once long-term unemployment sets in, even a college degree is often of little help." U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX) is pushing legislation to give benefits to the 99ers, but with Republicans now in control of the House, don't count on help anytime soon these 1.4 million people. Their suffering will likely go on.

PI Original
by Micah Maidenberg
4:13pm
Mon Jan 17, 2011
2 comments

Unemployment Insurance Debt Payments Loom

Unemployment

Illinois, like 29 other states around the country, has borrowed from the federal government to make sure unemployment insurance flows to those who lost their jobs during the Great Recession. But now a provision allowing the loans to be made interest free is expiring.

Quick Hit
by Micah Maidenberg
12:43pm
Wed Jan 12, 2011
61 comments

Rep. Jackson To Dramatize The Jobs Crisis

There was some good news on the unemployment front last month in Illinois. The state's Department of Employment Security noted in its monthly report (PDF) that through last November, the jobless rate "fell in every metropolitan area in the state for the third consecutive month."

But to call that good only shows how damaging the Great Recession has been for workers in the state (and, of course, across the country). Jobless rates in Illinois are still sky-high, after all -- 11 percent in Danville, 13.7 percent in Rockford, and 8.9 percent in the Chicago region. There are still too few jobs for too many people -- for those who have been recently laid off, for the long-term unemployed, for new graduates seeking their first positions, and others tossed in the lurch. U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Chicago) announced a new initiative last week to "dramatize" that crisis. His office is now collecting resumes from the jobless to highlight "the shameful condition of unemployment and compel action to do something about it." Here's more from Jackson, via a release:

Of course, sending me a resume will not put anybody first in line for a job. It will not be forwarded to anybody who is hiring. But it will put the jobs issue front and center before the government so that we can remind elected officials that we need to go to work everyday for those who aren't allowed to go to work every day, but want to.

Details about how to submit your resume to the congressman are available through his website. With Republicans now in control of the House of Representatives promising "austerity," Jackson and other advocates for the unemployed face a difficult road ahead.

Quick Hit
by Adam Doster
3:42pm
Fri Jan 7, 2011

99ers Respond To A Bleak Jobs Report

The U.S. Labor Department released its December jobs report this morning and the news was mixed, at best. The economy added 103,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 9.4 percent, the lowest its been since May 2009. Yet most of the decline was attributed to a huge increase (260,000) in the number of people who have given up looking for work. "On the whole," writes economist Dean Baker, "this report does not suggest a very positive picture of the labor market going into 2011."

Because job growth is so slow, it could take years for many folks who have lost work during this recession to regain steady employment. The problem is particularly dire for the long-term unemployed, whose numbers are still rising and who were left out of the compromise extension of unemployment insurance last month. In downtown Chicago today, folks affiliated with the Chicago Jobs With Justice's Unemployed Workers Council rallied in favor of more aggressive federal employment policies. Below is a brief interview we shot with Randy Moe, a "99er" who has been out of work for over two years. Watch: