If You Think The Employment Numbers Are Good, Then You Really Need To Read This Article

Dees Illustration

Michael Snyder

Do you actually believe that the employment numbers are getting better?  Do you actually believe that there is a bright future ahead for American workers?  If so, then you really need to read this article.  The truth is that we are in the midst of the worst employment crisis since the Great Depression, and there has been absolutely no employment recovery.  In fact, the percentage of working age Americans that are employed is just about exactly where it was during the darkest days of the last recession.

But the mainstream media is not telling you this.  The mainstream media is instead focusing on the fact that the official "unemployment rate" declined from 7.6% in June to 7.4% in July.  That sounds like great news, but when you take a deeper look at the employment numbers some very disturbing trends emerge.

Obama calls on private sector to create jobs

Only 54,000 new jobs had been created in May
© AFP/Getty Images/File Justin Sullivan

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama on Saturday called for the private sector to create more jobs, but underlined the government's role in promoting professional education.

"Now, government is not -- and should not be -- the main engine of job-creation in this country. That’s the role of the private sector, " the president said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

"But one thing government can do is partner with the private sector to make sure that every worker has the necessary skills for the jobs they’re applying for," Obama added.

US foresees $46 billion in 2011 military sales

US military equipment sales, tripled to $30bn after 2005
© AFP/File Louisa Gouliamaki

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States plans to export $46.1 billion in weapons this year, nearly doubling its 2010 figures, officials said.

During the fiscal year 2011, which ends September 30, Washington expects the sales of equipment and military services through its Foreign Military Sales process to grow. About 79 percent of these exports are financed by client countries and organizations, with the remainder funded by US aid programs.

US military equipment sales, confined to about $10 billion in the early 2000s, tripled to around $30 billion after 2005.

Bernanke sees 'loss of momentum' in jobs market

© AFP/Getty Images/File Scott Olson

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - After a slew of wretched economic news, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned there had been a "loss of momentum" in the already tepid US jobs market.

Two years into a slow and largely jobless recovery, Bernanke predicted employment and growth would eventually pick up, but that a recent soft-patch needed to be carefully monitored and that stimulative policies were still needed.

"Until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established," Bernanke told an audience in Atlanta, Georgia.

State, local governments set to see record job cuts, layoffs

Wiki Image

Tami Luhby
Yahoo Finance

Don't look to state and local governments to prop up the job market.

To the contrary, this cash-strapped sector is set to go on a record-breaking layoff binge when the new fiscal year starts on July 1.

State and local governments are forecast to shed up to 110,000 jobs in the third quarter, the first time the blood-letting has risen into the triple digits, according to IHS Global Insight.

"We're on a downward path," said Greg Daco, principal U.S. economist at IHS. "It's not looking good."

State and local government employment has been a drag on the economy all year, averaging a loss of 23,000 jobs a month over the past three months. Meanwhile, the private sector has created an average of 180,000 a month during the same period.

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White House rules out 'double dip' recession

© AFP/File Jewel Samad

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House on Friday ruled out anxiety over the possibility of a "double dip" recession after disappointing jobs numbers augmented previous data suggesting the recovery may be slowing.

"Not at all," said White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest when asked whether President Barack Obama was concerned about a possibility of a return to economic contraction or a "double dip" recession.

"If you look at the overall trajectory of our economy there is a lot of cause for optimism," said Earnest aboard Air Force One as Obama flew to Ohio to tout the success of his auto industry bailout.

Spinning the Economy to a Recovery

Dees Illustration

Greg Hunter
USA Watchdog

Remember back in early-2009, when the mainstream media (MSM) started with the ridiculous “green shoots” talking point?  Even though the data was dismal and there were no signs of the economy recovering, the“green shoots” term was used by just about everyone in the MSM.  I think not long after economist Nouriel Roubini said that the much talked about “green shoots” was really“yellow weeds,” the talking point changed to “recovery.” (Click here to read the complete “Yellow Weeds” article from professor Roubini.) Ever since, the MSM has described the so-called “economic recovery” in terms such as  “fragile,” “jobless” and“tenuous,” to name a few.   The data has repeatedly shown the “recovery” isn’t any of these terms because THERE IS NO RECOVERY.  Oh sure, the stock market has gone up, but so have the number of people on food stamps, which is at a new record of 44 million.  There is also no recovery for the 33 million people who are unemployed.  Forget the government B.S. of 9%, the true unemployment rate has been stuck north of 22% for months according to Shadowstats.com.

The latest numbers have shown there is bad news across the board for housing, autos, manufacturing, employment and consumer confidence.  Well, here we go again with the spin by the MSM.  Even though many are now admitting there is a double-dip in the economy, the talking points used to describe this new downturn are things like “temporary,” “transitory” and a good old fashion “soft patch.” Here’s how the Associated Press reported the story after a nearly 300 point drop in the Dow this week.  It said, “We’re definitely in a soft patch,” says Steve Blitz, senior economist for ITG Investment Research.  No one knows whether the slowdown is a temporary setback or the start of a prolonged period of anemic growth. Many analysts hold out hope that the economy will rebound in the second half of 2011.” (Click here for the complete AP story.) “Soft patch, temporary,” see what I mean?  Since when is holding out “hope”and investment strategy?  Me and the people I have been quoting on this site have been clearly telling readers there would be another plunge in the economy.  We were right and the MSM was wrong—again.

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US new jobs plunged in May; jobless rate up

© AFP/Getty Images/File Spencer Platt

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The number of jobs generated by the US economy plunged in May and inflation continued to erode workers' incomes, deepening the challenge to the Obama administration, official figures showed Friday.

The economy added just 54,000 net new jobs in May, only one-quarter of the February-April pace, while the unemployment rate edged up to 9.1 percent, the Labor Department said.

The private sector, expected to drive the economy as governments slash spending, added a measly 83,000 positions, one-third of the rate of the previous three months.

The Next Bubble Is About to Burst: College Grads Face Dwindling Jobs and Mounting Loans

Today's graduates face miserable job prospects, and experts say the student loan crisis could be worse than the credit card or housing bubbles.

Sarah Jaffe
AlterNet

It's the beginning of summer: warmer weather, longer days, the end of the school year. And that means graduation for thousands of young people across the U.S.; graduation with more student debt than ever before, and into a job market that is anything but promising.

Young people between the ages of 16 and 24 face an unemployment rate nearly twice that of the rest of the population, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute. 2010's 18.4 percent rate for youth was the worst in the 60 years that economists have collected such data. ColorLines notes that in 2010, 8.4 percent of white college graduates were unemployed, 13.8 percent of Latino graduates, and a dismal 19 percent of black graduates.

Why the Rich Love High Unemployment

Mark Provost  
Dissident Voice

Christina Romer, former member of President Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, accuses the administration of "shamefully ignoring" the unemployed. Paul Krugman echoes her concerns, observing that Washington has lost interest in "the forgotten millions." America's unemployed have been ignored and forgotten, but they are far from superfluous. Over the last two years, out-of-work Americans have played a critical role in helping the richest one percent recover trillions in financial wealth.

Obama's advisers often congratulate themselves for avoiding another Great Depression – an assertion not amenable to serious analysis or debate. A better way to evaluate their claims is to compare the US economy to other rich countries over the last few years.

On the basis of sustaining economic growth, the United States is doing better than nearly all advanced economies. From the first quarter of 2008 to the end of 2010, US gross domestic product (GDP) growth outperformed every G-7 country except Canada.

Hopes for a quick decline in US joblessness dim

© AFP/Getty Images/File Justin Sullivan

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US economists were anticipating more bad news in the jobs market when the government releases new figures for April on Friday, after a week of data suggested economic growth slowing more than anticipated.

With the unemployment rate still a grinding 8.8 percent, an expected poor number for positions created across the country last month could put new pressure on the government to find more ways to help the jobless.

On Thursday a surprising jump in the weekly indicator on new unemployment claims sent worries through the economy, helping to push the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.1 percent.

Bad Education: College Debt No Longer Economical

Wikimedia image

Malcolm Harris
N+1 Magazine

The Project On Student Debt estimates that the average college senior in 2009 graduated with $24,000 in outstanding loans. Last August, student loans surpassed credit cards as the nation’s single largest source of debt, edging ever closer to $1 trillion. Yet for all the moralizing about American consumer debt by both parties, no one dares call higher education a bad investment. The nearly axiomatic good of a university degree in American society has allowed a higher education bubble to expand to the point of bursting.

Since 1978, the price of tuition at US colleges has increased over 900 percent, 650 points above inflation. To put that number in perspective, housing prices, the bubble that nearly burst the US economy,  then the global one, increased only fifty points above the Consumer Price Index during those years. But while college applicants’ faith in the value of higher education has only increased, employers’ has declined. According to Richard Rothstein at The Economic Policy Institute, wages for college-educated workers outside of the inflated finance industry have stagnated or diminished. Unemployment has hit recent graduates especially hard, nearly doubling in the post-2007 recession. The result is that the most indebted generation in history is without the dependable jobs it needs to escape debt.

Correspondence With The Empire; an attempt to make a difference

Wiki Commons

Richard William Posner
Activist Post

Without monetary reform we cannot go forward and we cannot address any of the crucial issues facing us. Most importantly, without such reform, we cannot restore freedom to our country.

Unless this step is taken, unless this reform is enacted, the United States will soon enter the ranks of the third world. Please, join me.

Whether you vote Democrat, Republican, Independent or Green, whether you're a Tea Party or Coffee Party member, whether you're gay or straight, white or black, whatever your ethnic or religious persuasion may be; PLEASE, put aside your differences. If we do not stand together now, that is how we will all fall.

Write, call, fax and email your "representatives" repeatedly. Tell them, don't ask, that you demand the passage of H.R. 6550, The National Emergency Employment Defense Act. 

Americans pessimistic about economy: poll

New York job hopefuls
© AFP/Getty Images/File Spencer Platt

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Americans are more pessimistic about the economy than they have been at almost any time since the start of Barack Obama's presidency, according to a poll released Friday.

As candidates begin to limber up for the 2012 presidential race, a New York Times/CBS News survey showed 80 percent of Americans think the economy is in bad shape and 39 percent think it is getting worse.

That depth of pessimism is similar to levels seen in the first months of Obama's term, when the economy was still in the throes of recession.

The poll offers the White House painful evidence that rising gasoline prices and stubbornly high unemployment is roiling voters, with Obama personally taking lumps for the malaise.

Some 57 percent of people disapprove of his handling of the economy, more than at any time during his presidency.

The poll was conducted between April 15 and 20, with 1,224 adults surveyed across the United States.

© AFP -- Published at Activist Post with license

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Collapse Crisis Accelerating (Charlie McGrath Video)

YouTube -- crabbydogtrix

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/march-madness-feds-spent-more-eight-time
http://www.newsnet14.com/?p=68800
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=news&cd=1&ved=0CCUQqQIwAA&a...
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/03/29/libya.opposition.analysis/
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/debt-ceiling-will-be-hit-by-may-16-geithner-...

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We've Become a Nation of Takers, Not Makers

More Americans work for the government than in manufacturing, farming, fishing, forestry, mining and utilities combined.

Census Worker AFP File image

Stephen Moore
Wall Street Journal

If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government.

It gets worse. More Americans work for the government than work in construction, farming, fishing, forestry, manufacturing, mining and utilities combined. We have moved decisively from a nation of makers to a nation of takers. Nearly half of the $2.2 trillion cost of state and local governments is the $1 trillion-a-year tab for pay and benefits of state and local employees. Is it any wonder that so many states and cities cannot pay their bills?

Every state in America today except for two—Indiana and Wisconsin—has more government workers on the payroll than people manufacturing industrial goods. Consider California, which has the highest budget deficit in the history of the states. The not-so Golden State now has an incredible 2.4 million government employees—twice as many as people at work in manufacturing. New Jersey has just under two-and-a-half as many government employees as manufacturers. Florida's ratio is more than 3 to 1. So is New York's.

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US lawmakers seek to force action on trade pacts

Editor's Note: Yes, just what we need to boost the American economy; more so-called "free trade" agreements written by nation-less corporations.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
© AFP/Getty Images/File Win McNamee

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama's Republican foes in the US Congress on Monday stepped up pressure on the White House to submit free trade deals with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama for lawmakers' final approval.

Forty-four Senate Republicans signed a letter warning they would block confirmation of Obama's next Commerce secretary pick and any other trade nominees until he sends the three agreements up for congressional passage.

"Any further delay of these agreements is unnecessary and inexcusable," the group, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, wrote to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

Unemployed: Stop Searching for a Job, Learn to Forage and Produce

Good jobs are not returning to America anytime soon.  It's time to stop hoping someone will pay you to do useless tasks and learn to forage and produce for yourself.

Howard Beale
Activist Post

A good friend of mine has been unemployed for over 18 months.  He is 32 years old with a master's degree from a respectable university and an impressive resume of non-profit charitable work, as well as international business experience.  He is even fluent in two languages; English and Spanish. Yet he is just beginning to realize after countless job applications, with few interviews, that he is a dime-a-dozen in in America's new paradigm of over-educated, over-qualified people who can't find a job to sustain them.

In his tenacious quest, he joined a cooperative that provides office space with Internet and phone service, job training courses, and kinship for the unemployed.  He even applied to the only entity that seemed to be openly hiring -- government:  The United Nations, the U.S. State Department, the CIA and, yes, the IRS too.  He attended a high-level interview for a U.N. position that was set up by a very connected family friend.  Apparently the U.N. hired someone with even more connections and qualifications.

It is probably a blessing that he never received call-backs from those federal agencies, but at the time it didn't feel that way to him.  In essence, he has used all of tools in the matrix to pursue employment, but to no avail.  It seems the wheel no longer needs his cog.


My friend, like many others going through the same struggle, is finally beginning to see the system for what it is: a rigged game to create dependence.  Dependence for employment, or dependence on government assistance.  It is a system that makes the unemployed feel worthless and hopeless. Unfortunately, this horrible feeling may be a necessary phase of waking up to the nature of this prison.

As everyone already knows, the manufacturing jobs will never return to America in any measurable way, because the incentives have been sent offshore.  Therefore, the only American job growth will take place in a Ponzi-style economy in non-productive sectors.  Since America no longer produces anything, it seems that they must break things in order to create false economic "growth."  Consequently, they can't implement any genuine solutions, because that would threaten even more jobs.

For instance, they can't end the foreign wars, or the War on Drugs, because where would all of the soldiers, contractors, DEA agents, prison guards, court workers, and all their support staff find new employment?  They can't simplify the tax code because where would all the accountants, bookkeepers, tax attorneys, and accounting professors work? They can't undo the Patriot Act because where would the millions of people who make up the surveillance-industrial complex work? They can't clamp down on the exotic games at the Wall Street casino, or virtually no one would be left with a job.

This is the nature of the phony matrix we call the American Economy.  Even if you're "lucky" enough to have a position in the above-mentioned professions (and many other non-productive capacities), you must realize that your job depends on the system remaining broken.  Indeed, many will fight to keep the broken system for their own self-interest.  This was blatantly obvious when police organizations were one of the biggest contributors for the campaign to defeat Prop 19 to legalize marijuana in California.

Since most people subconsciously know that their daily tasks are fundamentally worthless, or at least replaceable, job insecurity is at an all-time high.  It is the system's mechanism to perpetuate the rule of self-preservation that has deliberate consequences.  It creates an atmosphere where moral individuals will engage in immoral acts to preserve their livelihood. So, our survival instinct allows us to justify any moral or intellectual compromise.  In turn, they've convinced us that it is the only way to survive; hence our "dog-eat-dog" world. It's an evil trap and even the best-intentioned can fall prey to it.

The good news is that the system will eventually implode because it is built on an illusion, by fake money, and can only "produce" by destroying things through literal and figurative wars.  It destroys people, property, freedom, and basic morality. The bad news is that while it crumbles the human suffering will get much worse before it gets better.  The only way we can avoid or limit this suffering is by becoming aware and changing our approach to the matrix.

Back to my buddy.  A lot of good his $100,000-plus education has done for him in this system. He is only now taking the initiative to create something productive for himself out of sheer necessity. Can you imagine the level of production he could have accomplished in eighteen months working on a personal project, side business, or learning new skills?

It seems that the times are ripe for the hopelessly unemployed to realize that the only person they can depend on to create labor is themselves. The wonderful thing is that you finally get to choose how you will deploy your precious time and effort.  Sure, you may not make boatloads of money, or have health insurance right away, but some positive income can be achieved.  And if you're truly driven by passion, your labor becomes effortless and enjoyable and will ultimately result in whatever level of income you desire.

You may have to learn to forage for a while before you find the best income vehicle for your passions.  Learning to appreciate incremental gains when they do come is also vital to success, as any gain is certainly better than wasting away as a blob in front of the TV, polishing your résumé , and circling want ads for the next 6 months.

There are countless ways to turn your passions into income by foraging.  You can start a blog for free about topics you care deeply about; learning how to monetize it as your audience grows.  You can treasure hunt for valuable relics at yard sales and shops and sell them online. You can grow, make, and sell homemade products to your local cooperative or farmers market.  And why not organize a local co-op in your community if there isn't one?

The point is: our belief, dedication, and complacency to a "system" that has been defined for us has led to a lost ability to forage and create. The key is taking the first step on our own and seeing where it leads.

Related Article by Howard Beale:
So Broke We Can't Pay Attention

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What Kind Of Mood Are The American People In As We Enter 2011?

The American Dream

Around the end of the year a ton of polls and surveys get taken.  Media organizations love to get a "snapshot" of how the American people are feeling as the new year begins.  So what kind of mood are the American people in as we enter 2011?  Well, if the polls are to be believed, they are less optimistic, they are a bit scared, they are very frustrated and they are becoming increasingly angry.  A solid majority of Americans believe that the country is moving in the wrong direction and they desperately want someone to fix the economy.  What Americans seem to want most of all are good jobs.  At the end of the day, Americans want to be able to pay the mortgage and put food on the table.  If they can't do that, then what is going on with other "important issues" really isn't going to seem very important to most of them.

So is it a good sign that for the week ending December 25th that claims for unemployment benefits fell below 400,000 for the first time in a very, very long time?


Well, it turns out that claims for unemployment benefits decline every year right around the holidays and they decline every time a major winter storm hits much of the country.  Considering the fact that both of those things have happened recently means that we shouldn't be celebrating too much yet.  Let's see what happens after the holidays and when the weather gets a bit better.

The truth is that the official unemployment rate has been hovering just under 10 percent for the entire year and people are getting really tired of searching day after day for good jobs that don't seem to exist.

The following is a compilation of recent poll results that show just how frustrated and angry the American people are becoming as we enter 2011....

The American People Are Dissatisfied With The Economy
A recent Bloomberg National Poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction.  But most Americans felt we were going in the wrong direction under George W. Bush as well.  The truth is that the American people are going to continue to be frustrated with the "direction of the country" until the economy starts to show some sustained improvement.

So are things going to get better soon?

Well, one thing is for certain.  Americans are becoming less optimistic.

In a recent Pew Research survey only 55 percent of Americans said that the year ahead would be "better".  That was significantly down from 67 percent who believed that the year ahead would be "better" back last January.

According to that same Pew Research survey, a whopping 89% of Americans rate national economic conditions as "fair" or "poor", and 79% say that jobs are difficult to get in their local communities.

As noted earlier, that is the main thing that most Americans want.  Most Americans want to be able to work hard and provide for their families.  But for millions of Americans today that has not been a reality for a very long time.

So will more good jobs be created soon?

Well, a majority of new jobs in the United States are created by small businesses, and right now small business owners do not have a very positive view of the coming year at all.

A recent survey of small business owners found that 25 percent believe that the U.S. economy is getting better but 51 percent believe that it is getting worse.

Hopefully the economy will at least stabilize a bit in 2011, because if it doesn't, the poll numbers are going to look really ugly next year at this time.

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10 New Year's Re-Solutions For Non-Violent Rebellion

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