At 8 am EST on August 3rd, 2012 the
July Unemployment (U3) and Workforce Participation statistics were released. Given the
trend over the past three and a half years, they should come as no surprise. There were small changes, and
none of them positive when the situation is taken in aggregate.
Some will attempt to spin the numbers with the "good news" of the
lethargic increase of 163,000 or so "new jobs created". However, over the
last two weeks over 722,000 more people
lost their jobs. That is a net LOSS of 559,000 jobs. That is hardly an increase.
To top it off, they revised the June numbers. The "jobs created" in June
was originally reported at about eighty thousand. The revised numbers are
significantly lower at sixty-four thousand. So, they lied in July when they released the
June report. Of course, this is the trend from the Bureau of Labor
Statistics. They report the less pessimistic report, then revise it to
be more accurate (and dismal) a month later.
The average pay for non-farm, non-supervisory jobs increased by two cents an
hour from $19.75 to $19.77. Given an inflation rate over three percent, that does
not even cover cost of living increases. The mainstream media will most
likely report that as positive, since that two cent raise means that a
worker will be able to buy an additional pack of gum at the end of his
work week (averaged at thirty-four hours a week).
The U6 numbers remained largely unchanged, indicating that the real
unemployment rate and underemployment rate (people stuck with part time
jobs who have been seeking full time employment) is closer to fifteen percent. The
U3 rate normally reported in the news is up, increasing to 8.3%.
If you couple the U3 rate increase with yet another drop in workforce
participation, the numbers get sickening. Currently, 58.4% of the
population is of working age. Of those of working age, currently only
63.7% are working or looking for work. Five years ago, that workforce
participation was closer to 70%. What this means is that of our
population,
311,591,917, only 181,969,680 are of
working age. Of that 181,969,680 only 115,914,686 are willing to work.
Only 106,293,767 are actually employed. That means only 38.2% of
Americans are working or looking for a job. That means only 38% of
citizens are willing to make a wage, pay taxes, and support the 62% who
aren't. THAT is dismal.
Long-term unemployment also increased slightly.
Those are people who have been employed over twenty-seven weeks. However, as many
of them approach ninety-nine weeks, when the handouts end, they apply for SSDI claiming anxiety and depression for
being unable to find employment. At that point, they are no longer part
of the workforce. They also get a monthly paycheck averaging $1110 that
is paid for by those 34.1% of the US population who are actually
working.
No matter which stats the politicians want to draw
your attention to, the aggregate numbers display bad news. You will hear
that those people that bust their butts to become "top earners" need to
pay more in taxes. In the same diatribe, you will hear that they need
to pay their "fair share". If you want to talk about the real fair
share, you need to ask the forty-nine percent of the US population that are receiving
government subsidy handouts when they are going to stop being parasites,
produce, earn, and pay their fair share.
That point is moot until the government gets out of
the way. Interference in the market, unpredictable changes in
regulations, restrictions, fees, hidden taxes, and not knowing from day
to day what tomorrow's tax rate is going to be cause stagnation in
business growth. A company is not going to expand in an unstable
environment. The Government is creating that unstable environment. If
they did away with the ridiculous and unnecessary regulations instead of
increasing them (many without constitutional legislation), companies
may be more willing to expand, thus hire more workers. Those wishing to
start new businesses may actually take the chance rather than look at
the economy and think "I'll have to work three years just to pay off the
fees and regulations for the first operational year".
Original article at Mental Aikido
