AUGUST 2012 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT: 8.1%
A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 13.9
million, and the jobless rate was 9.1 percent. [BLS]
| White |
7.2% |
| African American |
14.1% |
| Hispanic |
10.2% |
| Asian** |
5.9% |
| Persons with a disability** |
13.9% |
| Men 20 years and over |
7.6% |
| Women 20 years and over |
7.3% |
| Teens (16-19 years) |
24.6% |
| Black teens |
37.9% |
| Officially unemployed |
12.5 million |
HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT
| Working part-time because can’t find a full-time job: | 8.0 million |
| People who want jobs but are not looking so are not counted in official statistics (of which about 2.6 million** searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available for work during the reference week.) | 7.0 million |
|
Total: 27.5 million (17.0% of the labor force) |
|
Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf
**Not seasonally adjusted.
*See Uncommon Sense #4 for an explanation of the unemployment measures.
In addition, millions more were working full-time, year-round, yet earned less than the official poverty level for a family of four. In 2010, the latest year available, that number was 16.8 million, 17.0 percent of full-time, full-year workers (estimated from Current Population Survey, Bur. of the Census, 9/2011).
In June, 2012, the latest month available, the number of job openings was 3.8 million, “little changed from 3.7 million in May. Job openings were little changed in all industries and regions. The level of total nonfarm job openings in June was up from 2.4 million at the end of the recession in June 2009.” Job Openings and Labor Turnover Estimates, August 7, 2012.+
Thus there are now more than 7 job-wanters for each available job.
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3815
Employment-population ratio 1/1948 to 7/2012
http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3252
+“The number of job openings in June (not seasonally adjusted) increased over the year for total nonfarm and total private. The number of job openings for government was little changed. Job openings increased over the year for several industries and the Midwest, Northeast and South regions.”