The media has been reporting a rosy jobs picture for the month of February, but Gallup has not. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will report tomorrow but I am guessing they will be more creative and report lower unemployment.
Gallup (Figures are from Jan. 15 – Feb. 15) -
The U.S. unemployment rate without seasonal adjustment is 9.0% in mid-February, up from 8.6% for January. [The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports seasonally adjusted figures]
U.S. employees in mid-February who are working part time but want full-time work is the same as in January and is close to January 2010 figures.
Underemployment, a measure that combines the percentage of workers who are unemployed with the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work, is 19.0% in mid-February up from 18.7% recorded for January, and is up from January’s mid-month reading of 18.1%.
Zerohedge reports European youth unemployment (18 -24) ranges from 46% in Greece to 51% in Spain. In the U.S. youth unemployment is 46% – the same as Greece. It is the worstin 64 years and 7% worse than when Obama took office. The figures are highest among minority youths.
CBO Report: The United States is Experiencing the Longest Stretch of High Unemployment Since the Great Depression.The rate of unemployment in the United States has exceeded 8% since February 2009, and the CBO projects that it will remain above 8 percent until 2014.
Slack demand for goods and services is the primary reason for the persistently high levels of unemployment observed today. When demand ultimately picks up, structural factors—such as mismatches between employers’ needs and workers’ skills and locations, the erosion of unemployed workers’ skills, and the stigma of being unemployed—may continue to keep unemployment higher than normal.
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