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EMPLOYMENT & RELATED DATA

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     SEPTEMBER 2008 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
                                          (U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)

OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT:   6.1%
A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 7.2
million, and the jobless rate was 4.7 percent. [BLS]

HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT

Working part-time because can't find a full-time job:	6.1 million
People who want jobs but are not looking so are not counted in official statistics (of which about 1.6 million** searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available for work during the reference week.)	5.1 million
Total: 20.7 million (13.0% of the labor force)

Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

In addition, millions more were working full-time, year-round, yet earned less
than the official poverty level for a family of four. In 2007, the latest year available,
that number was 17.6 million, 16.2 percent of full-time workers (estimated from Current Population Survey, Bur. of the  Census, 2008).

In August, 2008, the latest month available, the number of job openings
was only 3.3 million, according to the BLS, Job O penings and Labor Turnover Estimates, Oct. 7, 2008.+ Thus there are more than 6 job-wanters for each
available job.

Mass layoffs: "From January through August 2008, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted), at 12,542, and initial claims (seasonally adjusted), at 1,274,765, were the highest for the January-August period since 2003......

The number of mass layoff events in August was 1,427 on a not seasonally adjusted basis; the number of associated initial claims was 139,999. Over the year, increases were recorded in both the number of layoff events (+464) and initial claims (+46,541). The largest over-the-year increases in initial claims occurred in transportation equipment manufacturing (+14,191) and in administrative and waste services (+4,524). The largest decrease in initial claims occurred in credit intermediation and related activities (-6,363). " (BLS, Sep. 23, 2008)

*See Uncommon Sense #4 for an explanation of the unemployment measures.
**Not seasonally adjusted.
+"Continuing the downward trend that began in September 2007, the job openings rate declined to 2.3 percent in August, the lowest level since April 2004. The decrease in the job openings rate in recent months is due to declines in construction, wholesale trade, professional and business services, and accommodation and food services. Throughout the series, three industries consistently have had higher job openings rates than the other industries, although the gap has recently decreased: education and health services (3.3 percent in August), professional and business services (2.9 percent), and accommodation and food services (2.5 percent)."

Unemployment Insurance Calculator, EPI