AMERICA AT THE CROSSROADS OF HISTORY
Posted on 09/07/2009 10:56:59 AM PDT by Son House
Unemployment and job loss figures released for August 2009 by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics did not hold any promise for economic recovery reaching American households soon.
While the number of jobs lost in August was down – a sign pointed to as evidence the recession is turning around – there was an increase in the number of people claiming unemployment. That figure jumped to 9.7 percent for all workers, up .3 percent from July and the highest level recorded in more than two decades.
The August bump was driven by increases in the jobless rates for adult men, Whites and Hispanics, but unemployment rates for African-Americans grew faster than those for the subgroups of adult men and Whites. The increase for Hispanics, seasonally adjusted, climbed 0.7 percent, to 13 percent for August.
The overall unemployment rate for African-Americans increased 0.6 percent from July to 15.1 percent. The rate for adult Black males increased 1.2 percent to 17 percent and the rate for adult Black females increased only 0.2 percent to 11.9 percent.
The Economic Policy Institute's Job Pictures report, released monthly after the Bureau of Labor's monthly statistics, indicates “this recession continues to shatter all records related to length of unemployment spells.” According to the report, 5 million of the workers currently unemployed have been without work for over six months, equivalent to approximately 3.2 percent of the labor force.
“Although the employment data released [Sept. 4] clearly show that the pace of layoffs is slowing, these unemployment data also shows equally clearly that unemployed workers are still not finding jobs,” the report stated.
The recession is also taking its toll on government positions. Municipalities continue to tighten their belts as a result of decreasing tax revenues, and the budget cuts decrease services and the number of available positions. The EPI report notes that 5,000 federal, 5,000 state and 8,000 local government jobs were lost in August. The federal jobs lost include 8,500 postal workers downsized.
While families and communities are not directly benefiting from stimulus spending, experts contend the situation would be worse if the large federal package had not gone through.
“Our interventions have contributed to significant cuts in the rate of job loss,” said Jared Bernstein, the top economic adviser to Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in an interview with the New York Times. “We’re headed in the right direction, but we’re far from out of the woods. There are simply too many Americans seeking work.”
The EPI report suggests Congress extend unemployment benefits for the approximately 500,000 workers that will use up all their benefits by the end of September.
Democrat policies have made the unemployment situation worse since they took over Congress in 2006, 6.9 million jobs that have been lost.
Bush tax cuts weren't big enough, just like Rush Limbaugh said.
Obama’s fault. Uncle Tom Obama, that is.
Prison records, little education, little skills, unimpressive work histories can’t have anything to do with the issue.
Really ? I’m shocked!
Yeah, and I’m a racist extremist and I do not care one iota about the “magic negro’s” people.
Unquantifiable, unverifiable, unfalsifiable. Hits the 'rat sweetspot..
Well, DUH!!!!!!!
Well, there you go. Looking at anything besides race is being racist. (Discussion closed)
obama hates black people.
Municipalities continue to tighten their belts as a result of decreasing tax revenues
And higher tax rates may have something to do with decreasing tax revenues, but making things “fair” is more important to Obama, according to what he told Charles Gibson, proving Obama is an economic dunce
How does their employability quotient relate to those with better employment rates?
How is employment among while males over 50, I wonder?
Wah .....wah .......WAH!
That’s just RACIEST!
I bet George Bush did this?? (Along with all the Crackers)
Prison records, little education, little skills, unimpressive work histories can’t have anything to do with the issue.
AMEN
More than half of urban blacks never graduate from high school. Is White America responsible for that? I suppose Lyndon Johnson and his damnable social programs can be held culpable for the creation of a perpetual underclass. Still, one can’t help but be saddened by serial illegitimacy and homes without fathers, and schools where teachers labor in vain to teach. However, the inner city’s problems will never be resolved by Whitey. It is a Black problem and will remain so.
Hope & Change. African Americans (AA) are pimped and pawned by poverty pimps like Obama, Sharpton, Jackson, Wright, Van Jones and Farrakhan.
If you want African American “genocide” go to Obama’s Chicago where blacks live in govt apts owned by Obama pals getting tens of millions in $$ from Uncle Sam while the apts are dumps. Chicago crime is off the charts. The city is broke and corrupt and AA in Chicago pay 10.5% in sales tax.
Ditto every other liberal city like Newark, Detroit, Camden and emerging Atlanta.
Maybe it's the double citizenship that's doing it.
Enocuraged by rap music and the “gangsta” culture. The only thing worse is dumb suburban white kids trying to emulate the ghetto to “keep it real.”
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