How Many of us are unemployed??

This is our goal stranger. Next year DH can get out with retirement and medical- we'll see if he wants to stay an extra year to nail down his 'handicapped' (Colonel's) parking spot and slightly higher retirement pay (more from the extra time than from the boost in retirement rank). I join the voluntarily unemployed in 26 days and wish it had been a month ago.

I think it is worse than the official numbers show.

I know personally that within my OWN family, there are five people unemployed. All five are actively seeking work, one is going to school and the others are willing to work anywhere. Only one is collecting unemployment benefits, so the other four are not being counted.

Whether the numbers are correct or not, I know that it is bad out there just by watching my co-workers get walked out, by the lack of trucks sitting at the docks, by the sheer number of people asking me if I know of ANYTHING that they could do..and by the number of folks enrolling in school to learn something new so they have a chance at a job.

Look at the job fair attendence..it's at record levels these days, 1000's show up for only 100 jobs. KIA had record levels of online applications, so many that they quit taking applications. Number of jobs were 2500, number of applicants were in the neighborhood of 40,000. Many of my friends are looking overseas for a job. But the Dubai area is now in the same boat and people are being sent home.

I feel badly for all those that want to work and cannot find a job..I have been very fortunate in that I still have a job, but I can honestly say that I go in every day expecting it to be my last day. All I can do is keep going until I'm told I am no longer needed.

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Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!

I have been off since march 2006, I mailed out 100s of resumes, I walked miles a day.. trying to find a job was my full time job.
I was interviewed once!
Husbands company went bankrupt in aug of 07, he did find another job, less pay, not as good insurance.. but thankful for a job, but still in the auto industry.. he gets laid off at regular intervals,
and now with GM closing for the summer, he will probably get laid off due to the trickle down effect.. for the entire summer.
We just saved the house from forclosure.. I guess as long as we make enough for a mortgage payment, we always have chicken and eggs to eat. As ong as we cook them over the open flame outside.

In 1929 I would have been considered unemployed but not today. Back then, anyone that wanted or needed a job was considered unemployed. Now, the govt. uses statistical sampling methods so that less than half of those people are counted.

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“When I think of what tremendous consequences come from little things, I am tempted to think, there are no little things.” -Bruce Barton

5% is considered "full employment" because there will always be those who don't want to be employed. Those who are simply between jobs, but milking unemployment benefits as long as possible and so on. (Though I find that interesting. In my state, 2.5% or some such, is considered full employment)

BTW, according to this article, TN's unemployment a year ago was indeed 5.7%. However it was already to 9% in Feb this year, and 9.6% in March! Ie, it's still going up.

And it might not be half as bad as the government wants us to think, but that's only for those us who are still employed, are happily collecting our retirement, etc.

However, if you're one who has been laid off, it's pretty alarming!

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

I was fired from a job last May and actively looking for work until February. I got a job through a temporary agency for a month. After one week of losing the temp. job, I got rehired at the place that fired me last year.

The timing was just right, because my unemployment compensation was scheduled to end soon.

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Terri

This must be correct - I've often thought that there are some posters here who have too much "free time" on their hands - ahem, speaking from personal viewpoint as I sit typing.
I often wonder how so many brave and dedicated souls are "making it" these days, especially those with small children. I would hate it if families had to go "hard scrabble" the way my parents had to - wasn't fun.

I also live in Michigan and am unemployed. I left a job 2 years ago for dual carpal tunnel surgery and didn't want to go back to that job and ruin my hands again. After that I tried to find other work, but the auto industry failure in Michgian kinda put a crimp on that..not only are people not able to work, but also not able to buy, sell, travel, etc.

All industry in Michigan is very iffy right now, all the more reason to be living off your land.

My son works for an auto related industry (rubber/plastic) and he works about 2 weeks out of the month right now since October..but that is very iffy, they go from week to week not knowing what next week will hold..this week he is on a one week ..at least..lay off..he worked last week but was laid off the week before.

also our governmental services are going down the tubes because of no tax income with no one working, so even snowplowers are getting laid off and schools are closing...(glad it is summerish)..39 degrees...ish..

For the last two years but DW and I figure out that I better stay home and do day care for our newborn twins at that time .... In the mean time I have expanded our homestead a lot by adding a family cow a few meat sheep, a draft horse ( A 9 years old rescue belgian mare) that help in the garden, a yearly feeder pig (and a second this year that will pay for ours so free pig in 09) and a huge garden, last year grocery bil was under $2000 and included all the thing we can't grow or make ourselves (choclate, salt, toilet paper ....).

I am now back on the job market at the worst time ever but fortunatly for me, I speak fluently french so I can always take a custumer service job in one of those company trying to be in touch with our friends in Quebec that won't pay much but around here it come with benefits as it is pretty hard to find someone with this knowledge (good to live in the country)

Note that during that time I did a lot of off the homestead work around town (garden clean up, snow removal, wood cutting, mowing ....) that have paid for all our expense on the homestead so as the land was free and the home almost paid for we are know a year from being debt free (and mostly already as our savings equal our debt today)

Unfortunaltly I have to add that too many off us are unemployed and we won't see a big change before almost two year as we are almost all in the country were things will get better later than in big fancy city, until then we will have to take car of our garden and chicken my homesteader friend

Hi Tom in TN,

The problem is that, as others have stated, the numbers are based on jobless claims. Everything I've read says that if you include those who are no longer eligible, those who gave up looking, and those who have taken part time employment because it was all they could find, the actual number is about 14.5%. That indeed is a scary number!

Greg

Unemployed from full time job on 1/9/09

both DH and I are unemployed, I had a small dog grooming shop I sold in Dec so that I would be able to stay home with my Grandkids (who we adopted)
DH got laid of in March. He gets unemployment but wow what a joke. He has some chronic medical issues.so we must have the insurance. EXPENSIVE>
I never ever thought things could become such a mess.We were rolling along..making more money then I ever imagined we would...not rich by any means but able to pay and play. now I shoud go apply for food stamps, Yeah its a depression..just ask anyone with out a job

I'm now unemployed since 3/20...

As an Economics major we were taught in Macroeconomics class that 'Full Employment' in this country is 4% 'unemployed'...

That means the remaining 4% are those who do not WANT to be employed and those who have given up on being employed and are not actively seeking work.

The first group includes all the 'underground' working people who don't want employment in the 'taxed' system, that's the corner drug dealer and anyone else living off the 'official' grid.

The second group is anyone who is giving up, the guy who is close to retirement and goes a few months between the end of his unemployment checks and retirement and anyone else who has decided to stop looking for work but isn't necessarily making an income 'off the grid'. This includes the Mr. Moms who's wives make enough forthe family, etc.

The 4% is just an economic benchmark that accounts for that percentage of the population that is outside of the taxpaying economy.

Real teaching job ended in Aug 03. Have taught the odd course and landed a 1/2 time job at the public library, no benefits, in April 07. Am still at the PL, and have 5 other on-again off-again p-t jobs. I garden a LOT! ldc

My husband and I both work 24 hours a week, which allows us to not have to pay for daycare- 2 year old and 5 year old, have enough cash on hand and still work on gardening, animals, sawmill, etc... We are very blessed!

Unemployed since 12-12-08 and see no job coming in the near future.


Nomad

Well where do i fit in I got a sawmill an am a logger almost rained forty days an 39 nights payment due tomorrow got the interest not much more I'm about nuts an the equipment about wore out

On the good side they can't eat me bet you couldn't stick a fork in the gravy if they tried too May as well laugh as cry cause the pay is the same

All set to start a new job when Chrysler declared bankruptcy. You got it, the place I was going to start at is a supplier for Chrysler.....

I send an average of 10 resumes a week (sometimes there will be WEEKS without a new job posting in the 4 newspapers and/or 15+ internet sites I check daily).

This week, I am going to a temp agency in a nearby city (this is how bad it is here, 2 of the 3 temp agencies in large the town nearest where I live have closed!).

I am contemplating a MAJOR career change, from maintenance (industrial) to retail (also dropping my res' off at Home Depot and Menard's).

At this point, I won't take a job less than $10/hour, mainly because after taxes and child support (only 1 more year), I have to be able to feed my family and pay the bills (unemployment max in MI is about 9.70/hour).

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Roger

I was forced onto pension March '01, due to High-year-Tenure.

I did Mister Mom for a couple years as my Dw began a career working for the government as a produce grocery.

Now she is still working in a government grocery store, and I tend the farm.

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http://www.mofga.org/

http://www.mofga.org/Programs/FarmAp...2/Default.aspx

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm