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Unemployment?
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dccrens Offline
#1 Posted: Sun, Aug 8 2004, 3:27 PM EST
Joined: 04-04-2004
Posts: 721
Reading one of RICKMAVEN's posts made me start wondering about Bush and unemployment. I am curious as to what the local unemployment rates are where our fellow BOTLs live. Please post the unemployement rate where you are.

I live in Loudoun County VA, Leesburg. Loudoun has a 1.4% unemployment rate and is officially in a "worker shortage".

Others?

Cheers
usahog Offline
#2 Posted: Sun, Aug 8 2004, 4:19 PM EST
Joined: 12-06-1999
Posts: 22,691
good question dccrens...

http://www.ides.state.il.us/economy/cps.pdf

http://www.ides.state.il.us/
Hog
jackconrad Offline
#3 Posted: Sun, Aug 8 2004, 6:21 PM EST
Joined: 06-09-2003
Posts: 67,461
3.6%
jackconrad Offline
#4 Posted: Sun, Aug 8 2004, 6:21 PM EST
Joined: 06-09-2003
Posts: 67,461
3.6% Harrisburg PA
bigbike Offline
#5 Posted: Sun, Aug 8 2004, 6:25 PM EST
Joined: 09-22-2003
Posts: 145
S.E. Penna has a 5.7% unemployment rate.
pabloescabar Offline
#6 Posted: Sun, Aug 8 2004, 6:29 PM EST
Joined: 02-25-2005
Posts: 30,183
Unemployment Rates for States
Unemployment Rates for States
Monthly Rankings
Seasonally Adjusted
June 2004p
Rank State Rate
1 HAWAII 3.1
1 NORTH DAKOTA 3.1
3 NEBRASKA 3.3
4 SOUTH DAKOTA 3.4
5 VERMONT 3.5
5 VIRGINIA 3.5
7 WYOMING 3.6
8 DELAWARE 3.8
9 MARYLAND 3.9
9 NEW HAMPSHIRE 3.9
11 GEORGIA 4.0
12 MAINE 4.1
13 NEVADA 4.2
14 IOWA 4.3
15 MINNESOTA 4.4
15 TENNESSEE 4.4
17 CONNECTICUT 4.6
17 KANSAS 4.6
19 ARIZONA 4.7
19 FLORIDA 4.7
19 NEW JERSEY 4.7
19 UTAH 4.7
23 INDIANA 4.8
23 MONTANA 4.8
23 OKLAHOMA 4.8
26 COLORADO 4.9
27 IDAHO 5.0
27 WISCONSIN 5.0
29 MASSACHUSETTS 5.2
29 MISSOURI 5.2
31 ALABAMA 5.3
31 MISSISSIPPI 5.3
31 WEST VIRGINIA 5.3
34 KENTUCKY 5.5
34 NEW MEXICO 5.5
34 NORTH CAROLINA 5.5
37 PENNSYLVANIA 5.6
38 ARKANSAS 5.7
38 TEXAS 5.7
40 OHIO 5.8
40 RHODE ISLAND 5.8
42 ILLINOIS 5.9
42 LOUISIANA 5.9
44 WASHINGTON 6.1
45 CALIFORNIA 6.2
45 NEW YORK 6.2
47 MICHIGAN 6.5
48 SOUTH CAROLINA 6.6
49 OREGON 6.9
50 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 7.1
51 ALASKA 7.3

Rates shown are a percentage of the labor force.
p = preliminary.
NOTE: Data refer to place of residence. All estimates are provisional and will be revised when new benchmark and population information becomes available.
usahog Offline
#7 Posted: Sun, Aug 8 2004, 6:32 PM EST
Joined: 12-06-1999
Posts: 22,691
Damn Pablo... you didn't give everyone a chance to surf their own info UP LMAO!!!!

Hog
rayder1 Offline
#8 Posted: Sun, Aug 8 2004, 9:36 PM EST
Joined: 06-02-2002
Posts: 2,226
Clovis CA 5.9%

AVB Offline
#9 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 4:29 AM EST
Joined: 05-21-2003
Posts: 995
An interesting fact about unemployment rates is that they don't count all the unemployed. If you are not actively seeking a job because you've given up or for some other reason you are not counted as unemployed. Depending on your locale this can add 1-5% or more to the local unemployment rate.
snowwolf777 Offline
#10 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 4:38 AM EST
Joined: 06-03-2000
Posts: 4,082
Another interesting fact is the numbers don't take in all the people who want to be unemployed. They take a voluntary layoff and collect unemployment. They lose a job and work for straight cash in their trade and collect unemployment because they're "in no hurry" to get back to work. They routinely quit jobs or find reasons to be fired because they like to have large blocks of time off and have a check mailed to them.
AVB Offline
#11 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 4:47 AM EST
Joined: 05-21-2003
Posts: 995
Also true, very good point. Now all we need is a measure of UNDER employment to see how well things are going. A nation of employed burger flippers isn't as well off as one thinks.
snowwolf777 Offline
#12 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 5:54 AM EST
Joined: 06-03-2000
Posts: 4,082
I hear you, but that would be by our standards only.

The "burger flippers" at my wife's fast-food restaurant make $7.50 to $12 an hour, depending on their seniority. They may not be millionares, but they would be viewed as that by 90% of the rest of the world.

Yes, it's true - the Dot-com'ers who had a small percentage of their life making obscene money on the boom will probably be "underemployed" the rest of their lives. The Buick City worker in Flint, MI, who was making $70,000 a year to work perhaps 2 out of 8 hours a day will now always be "underemployed" driving truck and earning only $900 a week. But after he sells a couple of snowmobiles, a couple of jet skis, and unloads the cabin up north, he'll still eat every day and have a roof over his head. He and his kids will still be better off than the majority of the rest of the world's population. Although he will likely never share that opinion.

AVB Offline
#13 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 6:19 AM EST
Joined: 05-21-2003
Posts: 995
Out here in the sticks our burger boys are in the $6 range.
snowwolf777 Offline
#14 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 6:56 AM EST
Joined: 06-03-2000
Posts: 4,082
I understand.
snowwolf777 Offline
#15 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 7:06 AM EST
Joined: 06-03-2000
Posts: 4,082
Of course, we can pound those burger-flipping wages right up to $15/hour tomrrow. All we have to do is get everyone in area convinced a Happy Meal is worth $25. You can't have union wages with everyone demanding .99 cent value menus.
Cavallo Offline
#16 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 8:46 AM EST
Joined: 01-05-2004
Posts: 2,796
snowwolf: unemployment is very, very temporary. many folks here in NC max out after 2 months on it; others can go as long as a whopping 4 months.

it's not like you can go to work for a week and jump back on the dole either; what you're eligible for is based on what you earned in the last fiscal year broken down by quarters.

also, you have to be actively seeking work if you're on unemployment, and they do check on it to make sure that you're doing so. if you're not, you're out.

you are paid a percentage of what you earned at your last job. for me, i got $320 per week in unemployment when my company ditched it's f/t US citizen employees and hired our replacements from india.

oh -- and after your unemployment runs out, you're no longer even counted as being unemployed in the stats!

for those who don't know, unemployment is not supported by workers' taxes; it's covered by employers' insurance as required by law for employers having a certain # of employees.
rayder1 Offline
#17 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 8:53 AM EST
Joined: 06-02-2002
Posts: 2,226
Used to be when I was a kid...the fast food places were the place to go for a summer or part time job. Most of the employees were in the 16-20 range.

Now most of the fast food joints are populated with 35-50 year olds. Some young folks..but mostly older folks.

One of my Elks lodge acquaintences is a regional manager for McDonalds. He said the fast food trend is older people having to take jobs there due to welfare reform and other circimstances.

The younger folks tend to be poor employees due to lack of motivation ...viewing the job as "dead end". Lack of higher pay for their "toys". Many other factors reduce the number of available workers in lower paying jobs here.

My wife has a hard time trying to employ interns at her work. Ususlly their first question after the pay scale is "How much vacation do I get and how soon can I take it?" Her last two interns called in sick once or twice a week....took vacation as soon as they got their credit.... failed to work their minimum 150 hrs for school credit AND wanted my wife to sgn off on their hours anyway.

There's a huge gap in work ethic among some generation X'ers that needs to change. That's a part of our un and under-employment problem.
tailgater Offline
#18 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 9:03 AM EST
Joined: 06-01-2000
Posts: 26,185
AVB wrote: "An interesting fact about unemployment rates is that they don't count all the unemployed. If you are not actively seeking a job because you've given up or for some other reason you are not counted as unemployed"

Do you think they should be counted?
How can you help those that choose not to help themselves?

They say unemployment is high, yet just about every business in town has help wanted signs. Also, we find it difficult to near impossible to find reliable workers. True, the wages my company can pay will not make anyone rich, but it's a decent wage for honest work.
Yet, we can't seem to find people who are willing to show up everyday.

Cavallo Offline
#19 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 9:07 AM EST
Joined: 01-05-2004
Posts: 2,796
rayder1: a friend of ours has 2 boys; dad was an abusive (expletive), and i'm filling in as father figure to them -- they're 8 and 11, but imo that's about the right time to teach them about setting REALISTIC goals and making REALISTIC plans on how to reach them.

the eldest boy said that when he grew up he was going to work in an office "and just rake in the money." of course, he didn't have clue one about one DID in ANY office job or that all jobs don't necessarily bring in the billions. lol

he's also not keen on school (though last year he got straight A's. woo hoo!), but we're working on connecting all these dots -- like that how you handle school is very good training for how you'll handle life afterwards, that you acheive the big goals by setting smaller goals and having a plan of attack to reach them, etc. stuff like that.

i was 3 years out of h.s. before i even learned that there was such a thing as a credit report! my best friend taught me about it when i was thinking of applying for a credit card -- i had no clue whatsoever. anyway, i don't want these kids to grow up clueless, and i don't want them to go through jr. high and high school thinking that it's just some dumb thing that kids have to do before they're set free to claim their cushy office job and rake in those millions.

teachers do a great job at what they do, but school curiculi seem to have dropped a lot of the "life skills" courses, and those teachers who used to expend the energy on teaching such things in english, math, etc. no longer have the luxury of tackling such things as "did you know that you're not automatically handed a house and a job and a car?"

such things are, imo, up to parents and family to teach anyway, but it seems like a whole lot of younger folks missed out on those kinds of lessons and info.
nealep Offline
#20 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 10:29 AM EST
Joined: 07-14-2004
Posts: 519
I have got to chime in on this. I live in Ventura County, CA & have been working Temporary positions since June of '03. I'm not sure exactly what our county's unemployment rate is, but I do know that it is in the 6% range. I'm an older worker (54) and have a ton of experience and an associate's degree, but I haven't been able to get a permenant job yet. I was layed off in a RIF (Reduction in Force) by my former employer along with about 1/3 of the company's workforce. My wife says that unemployment will be lower with a Dem-o-rat in the White House, but I feel that we'd really be in trouble as a nation if JfK gets into office. Not that I'm all that happy about how things are going with Bush in office, but I'd rather have 4 more years with Bush than go down the drain completely with that idiot Kerry!!

Anyway... now that I've vented, anyone need a good Payroll Accountant? LOL...

Neal
snowwolf777 Offline
#21 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 10:59 AM EST
Joined: 06-03-2000
Posts: 4,082
Cavallo - I hear you on the NC state. In Ohio and Michigan, where I primarily deal with unemployment, you can be on it up to a year with federal extensions. I handle the unemployment benefits as part of my job with my company. Drivers routinely work for six or eight months - enough to qualify again, and then they do, indeed, go back on the dole. It's just a modified form of welfare.

It's obvious with several of the posters here that its realized ethics are part of the problem. No president from either part can fix that.
rayder1 Offline
#22 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 11:13 AM EST
Joined: 06-02-2002
Posts: 2,226
When I was 13 (o weekends), I would walk the neighborhood with a lawn mower and a can of gas to make some change. Later in the day I would walk the neighborhood with a bucket, sponge, soap and towels and wash cars for change. Meanwhile I got up at 0400-0500 every morning and deliver newspapers. When I could get a work permit I could finally make a minimum wage job working for the City of Fremont mowing circles around the 300-500 trees in the park. that would be my summer job for a couple years.

I couldn't wait for an opportunity to make some spending money. I was into building model planes, tanks and rockets and that was the only way I could support my hobby.

Now as a grownup...I have yet to see one kid stop by my house looking for an odd job to do. I don't even see lemonade stands. Only the kids in my daughters' 4H group seem to have any sort of motivation and work ethic. My kids know quite well...if they want something special...then they need to work for it.]

I'm only 43...those days aren't far behind me. I wonder where my generation screwed up in transmitting our work ethic onto our kids.

I guess we all just wanted to make life better for them forgetting that they need to make life better for themselves.
dccrens Offline
#23 Posted: Mon, Aug 9 2004, 4:48 PM EST
Joined: 04-04-2004
Posts: 721
Nealep,

While 6% is high when it is you that doesn't have a job, compared to most countries it is not high at all. 6 people out of 100. If those were betting odds I would take them. That said, both the Reps and the Dems should be doing more to address it. Reason I asked the question that started this thread is that the rate seems so unevenly distributed. For instance, Payroll Accountants are in very high demand in my neck of the woods. Perhaps people should consider "migrating" to the jobs rather than hoping the jobs will come to them. I don't know the answer. Hopefully, whoever becomes our duely elected President will.

Cheers
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