CBS: Chronic unemployment worse than Great Depression

hotair.com ^ | 6-6-11 | Ed Morrissey

[Justaham]

The media began the weekend making unfavorable comparisons between Barack Obama’s economy and the Great Depression, and now they’re beginning the week with another one — and this one’s more accurate. CBS delved into the jobless numbers and discovered that the percentage of unemployed who have been out of work for more than six months now exceeds that of the 1930s economic collapse:

There is an unfortunate adage for the unemployed: The longer folks are out of a job, the longer it takes them to find a new one.

CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports that the chronically unemployed face the hardest road back to recovery, and that while the jobs picture may be improving statistically on a national level, it is not for them. …

About 6.2 million Americans, 45.1 percent of all unemployed workers in this country, have been jobless for more than six months – a higher percentage than during the Great Depression.

[Dilbert San Diego]

If any in the MSM report how Porkulus was supposed to keep unemployment below 8%, then we’ll know that something is up.

[chris_bdba]

That factor has ben in the news a lot lately.One of the companies actually put in their help wanted ad.Most companies just toss the application without saying anything.

[albie]

“I wonder if some companies, businesses etc... look more favorably toward an applicant that is currently employed”

...absolutely! Just ask any 20 year housewife.

[oldbrowser]

Bottom line — business people think that top notch job candidates will find work fairly quickly if they are unemployed involuntarily for any reason. That may not be fair, but that’s how many business people look at it.

"fair" is a concept I never considered while interviewing a candidate for a job. My concern was to find the employee that was going to do the best job for me. I always took a long hard look at a person that wasn't working, and an even harder look at someone unemployed for an extended time.

[chris_bdba]

news storis on that happening:

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2011/feb/17/unemployed-need-not-apply-some-companies-saying/

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/16/news/economy/unemployed_need_not_apply/index.htm

[momtothree]

Wow! That is depressing. I mean let’s say someone loses their job because the company went under or was downsized... talk about pressure on them. How horrible to think “I’m done” instead of “I got kicked in the teeth and will just get up and keep trying until I get another job”. It sort of sounds like the old “who’s on first” joke. “I need a job”, says the applicant. “Well, you could have this job if you still had that job”, said the employer. Crazy.

[bert]

Katie....... hey Katie.......... are you on the list?

[bert]

Katie....... hey Katie.......... are you on the list?

[RobRoy]

If I know SeeBS, this is all about timing: Make it look as bad as possible now, and then say how much better it is finally getting in the months leading to the election. I may be all wet, but I just don’t trust SeeBS to be sane on this.

[chris_bdba]

Yes i is very depressing for those out of work from more than 6 months.Even though it’s always been known that having a job made it easier to get another but this is beyond that.IMHO getting any job while still looking for one in your field would probably help with this.

[blam]

"I remember a saying that went something like “You have to have a job to get another job” (I’m paraphrasing). I wonder if some companies, businesses etc... look more favorably toward an applicant that is currently employed vs one (maybe with better qualifications) that is currently unemployed?"

Yes.

I used to hire a lot of engineers and my view was that 'there must be something wrong that I'm not seeing' on the people who were unemployed for an extended time.

And, with so many applicants/choices...why should I take the chance.

[RegulatorCountry]

Interruptions in employment in a given profession is looked upon unfavorably. Skills get stale, not up to speed on current software; training, regulatory familiarity all fall to the wayside during a lengthy hiatus.

Doesn’t sound “fair” but put yourself in the shoes of the person doing the hiring, that might make it seem more logical.

[Immerito]

http://www.simplyhired.com is another good job search site.

[Natural Law]

When are the politicians of both parties going to be called to account for the following facts:
- The number of illegal aliens in this country equals the number of unemployed citizens
- there were 65,000 new H1B visas approved for 2011 for jobs that could be performed by unemployed or underemployed American professionals and many tens of thousands of foreign workers still here on previously approved H1Bs.
- The job creation rates now are less current rate of 1,000,000 legal immigrants per year.

[momtothree]

I have known several people who lost their job due to the economy (not personal reasons). A few used their unemployment... and pretty much all of it until it either ran out or almost ran out to get another job). Most took another job even if the salary was way lower and it wasn’t anywhere near what the previous job had been. A few still have the much lower paying jobs but to be honest, I respect them immensely. They knew they had to feed their families and took a job beneath their experience and education.

[momtothree]

“...put yourself in the shoes of the person doing the hiring”.

I understand. I truly wouldn’t want to be the person hiring. My husband assists his boss during the hiring practice and their power to find out information is pretty limited. For example, if they contact the previous employer, they don’t say too much like “they never showed up, abused FMLA etc..”. The standard of “they were a satisfactory employee” is usually given. Sometimes, they hire and the person is worthless but the original employer is afraid of being sued (I guess) if they didn’t rate the person as “satisfactory”.

[Dick Vomer]

And on deck for the democrats!!!!!

Hilary Clinton. The smartest woman in the world!!

[Texas resident]

The MSM has put themselves in a difficult position. No pity here, but they openly campaigned for the foreigner. The MSM business income has been declining quite a bit. George soros steps in with millions of bucks to fund barak friendly media. So now, the MSM is dependant on barak’s benefactor’s cash to stay solvent.
Bet the kenyan reminds of that soon.

[CodeToad]

The number in soup lines, know today as Food Stamps, is a lot more than in the 1930’s: 45 million people get Food Stamps. Imagine that. There are 80 million households but 45 million people are using soup lines.

This is a Great Depression.

[RegulatorCountry]

Checking employment history has been reduced to merely a means to weed out padded resumés. No employer with half a brain would actually say anything more than to confirm employment, title, salary, job description, date of hire and date of departure. Any other information can and often does result in a lawsuit.

It’s really not hard to identify the right candidate, provided that right candidate is among those interviewed. They’re often not, which is the hard part, even in bad economic times. Of course, I’m talking about people with a certain propensity and skillset that anyone in the field would recognize. After that, it’s all personality and whether or not they’d be a good fit for the company culture.