US Unemployment At 26 Year High -- Has This Affected You?
posted by: Natasha G. 194 days ago

The U.S. Department of Labor announced that unemployment rate for the month of August was 9.7 percent -- the highest it has been in 26 years. Job losses for the month reached 216,000.
The statistics seem discouraging, but in reality, the news is mixed. The biggest losses were seen in construction and manufacturing, but health care and educational services actually saw an increase in jobs. In addition, the number of jobs lost has actually declined compared to previous months.
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis released a statement in response to the new statistics, discussing what the department is doing about the situation. Actions include:
-extending the number of weeks eligible for unemployment insurance
-subsidizing 65 percent of COBRA premiums
-investing nearly $4 billion in federal Recovery Act funds in training workers
Besides the Department of Labor's website, Recovery.gov is a great resource to find out what is being done by the federal, state and local government. (For example, did you know that the Nevada Division of Forestry used grant money from the federal government to create jobs aimed to preserve forests and promote green energy?)
The statistics seem discouraging, but in reality, the news is mixed. The biggest losses were seen in construction and manufacturing, but health care and educational services actually saw an increase in jobs. In addition, the number of jobs lost has actually declined compared to previous months.
Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis released a statement in response to the new statistics, discussing what the department is doing about the situation. Actions include:
-extending the number of weeks eligible for unemployment insurance
-subsidizing 65 percent of COBRA premiums
-investing nearly $4 billion in federal Recovery Act funds in training workers
Besides the Department of Labor's website, Recovery.gov is a great resource to find out what is being done by the federal, state and local government. (For example, did you know that the Nevada Division of Forestry used grant money from the federal government to create jobs aimed to preserve forests and promote green energy?)






comments
Does congress reads these comments? If not, they should be forwarded. One way to get the unemployment rate down is deport the illegal immigrants! It's been done in the past! The American people are tired of supporting them! I'm all for the American dream & anyone who wants to obtain it, LEGALLY! One example is the illegal that works in the construction field, union or non-union. For six months he works under his brothers name, maybe legal maybe not, most likely not, then his cousins name, again legal or not, and so on, not only is he getting a weekly pay check in who's name?, he is receiving 2-3 unemployment cks this could be as much as $1500. a wk or more, usually more. How fair does this sound to you? Oh, one more thing, all his children receive medicare, does yours?, or do you pay for your medical Ins.? Or maybe you don't have any because you lost your job or your co. doesn't offer it because of the ridiculous cost. I guess what I'm trying to get you to see or understand is we, all of us, need to take time to know what our elected official stands for. If he/she does not stand for what you believe, don't re-elect them, fight for the person you believe in. We can't just sit back & think they are going to do the right thing, obviously they aren't. This is decades of problems not just 9 month. We need to make sure OUR government hears US!
VOTE the next time your state official runs & know what he/she really stands for. PUT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BACK
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I have been out of work since last of Jan this yr..am on my 2nd tier of Federal Extension..and as Phyllis states this all started last yr..I had to work alot of temp jobs which I was grateful to have a job, and always hoping that companies would ask me to come aboard..I'm a good worker and do the best for the companies where I have worked!! But unfortunately companies will not normally ask a temp on these days because then they will have to give benefits if you become full time..and just turning 58yrs old this month is another issue..the age old hiring thing..guess they are worried about me maybe being a health risk for insurance..well..I'm hoping for a job soon..but people here in NC are still being layed off at this time..so I personally don't see a light at the end of the tunnel!! Good luck to all of you unemployed..we are all in the same boat together!! P.S. also I think our pres and his family need to stop the vacationing crap..that does not set well with unemployed, hungry, wondering how the are going to pay the bills, keep their homes, and dignity!!
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I'm a Highly Qualified Bilingual Teacher, and I had been laid off. I had been a victim of emotional abuse and unethical activities from the part of my State's Republican school administration. And in this State, teachers can't form an union to defend each other. We are puppets of this government and they don't respect us as professionals. It's sad to realize that Education had become a business like any other, and the polititians forget that they are messing up with our future. I don't blame President Obama, he just recently came to office and his challenge is to deal with this greatest mess that was left behind by the former administration. I blame the hidden interests behind all this political scenario, and the game they have with our citizens putting in jeopardy the security of our Great Nation. May God have mercy of all of us!
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For one thing, the true figures of the unemployed are much higher in many areas. Not taken into account are the under-employed; those who have lost well paying jobs and and who are now working part-time for $8.00 an hour and living right next to the ground. Additionally, if you cannot pass a credit check, a large number of establishments will not hire you. And of course many now have less than stellar credit due to being foreclosed, unemployed and unable to pay their bills on time. This is a practice that is working against many folks who are tryng to find work only to be rejected because they can't pass that bar. It's also a great excuse for hiring some, but not others.
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Here in Oz our unemployment is around 8.5%,and everyone is doing their bit to stimulate the economy through purchases, and partime job shareing, while the wealthy ones are looking to create jobs by entrepreneurial enterprises.
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Ups, downs, recessions etc. all happen by design. Follow it to it's source and be armed with the knowledge. Every person still has a chance to make choices that could end all this nonsense. The solution is inside each individual. It's not in any known political, social or economic "ism". Those are distractions. The solution is not in anything people have tried before. History has spoken. At this moment - a window of opportunity is open to each and every person. Be what it takes.
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Richard, the economy went off a cliff not because people had too little faith in capitalism, but because they had too much, and forgot that the market needs regulation to avoid crashing. This happened in the 1920s, and it happened during the Bush era. Conservatives of both parties who wanted to let the market take care of itself failed to regulate the financial industry, and the result was a big financial bubble, inflated by subprime and predatory lending and derivitives. The recession is revealing how hollow our national economy actually is, since so much of our industry has been outsourced (thanks to good old let-the-market-decide capitalism). With tightened credit and depreciated assets, there is less money available for investment and entrepreneurship, and an increase in corporate consolidation, enabled by bailout money courtesy of the public - which further diminishes free enterprise. A lot of this pain could have been avoided with common sense, not free market fundamentalism.
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I'm a laid-off teacher with two bachelor's degrees, a minor in Spanish, and a K-12 teaching certification with CLAD emphasis(Cultural & Language Development), yet I cannot get a teaching job ANYWHERE here in Los Angeles. When I moved here ten years ago, teachers were being hired with no credentials; they needed people so badly they were pulling in ANYONE off the street. In Spring 2009, LA County laid off 4,000 teachers. The population certainly hasn't decreased. So who's going to teach these kids? I'll tell you who: young grads fresh out of college with no teaching experience so they can pay them FAR less money. And they wonder why American children, especially ESL children, are falling so short academically of children from other developed countries. We do not prioritize education here. We talk like we do, but until teachers start getting paid and treated professionally, children will continue to fall through the cracks of the system, especially when they are in class sizes of 40+. Then these kids grow up and depend on the system to live, with much judgment from others. It's a bad cycle and could be stopped if as much money was put into education as has been put into the Iraq War. In fact, just two months of Iraq War funding would help hire back those 4,000 teachers. And it's not any one administration that has put us here...we have been heading in this direction ever since the materialism boom of the 50s if you look at the history books...
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I think the numbers will soon go up to 20 to 30 % ... BECAUSE American's have lost confidence in their country's most wonderful asset: CAPITALISM !
When venture capital is thwarted, opportunity is squelshed ... and job's and optimism suffer !
This is not the way many young people want to see it; BUT, that is the way it is. The most wonderful country in the world is being crippled by IDEALISTIC (yet very niave) liberals. If we can survive their destruction ... we may get our Country back ?
Fortunately ... the World works on enterprise, creativity, FACTUAL science's and the hard work of the many, many who understand the real way that econimies function.
Obama and the present administration just don't have a clue as to how the economy really works.
Rich Woods
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Jeffrey W., you are extremely ignorant and one day, it will catch up to you too. It's people with the same mindset as you who have gotten us in this mess in the first place. Your comments make me wonder what you really do for a living since you sound so high and mighty. When your layoff comes and you can't find a job because there are a thousand other applicants applying for the same job, reality will finally slap you in the face as it has slapped so many of us. Good Luck!
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