One Good Thing About Unemployment

You have a lot of time. 

Time especially comes in handy when your beloved 15 year old dog gets ill and you have to go back and forth to vets for four days. This is why on a blog about unemployment, I didn't cover Friday's 10.2 percent unemployment rate - highest in decades and the cry about worst joblessness since the depression. Somethings are more important, like laying out $2K for your beloved companion.  Fortunately, she is doing better and will recover, unlike the job market. Like I said, somethings are more important.

Back to business with a quick recap of some of the implications about the unemployment numbers.

From Brookings:

In "New Unemployment and Productivity Numbers are Bad News for Job Seekers" Brookings analysts conclude that even though the economy is doing better, companies aren't hiring, but making their workers work harder.  Yeah for those who are employed.  You still have your paycheck, but are working for the man harder and harder and harder so you can be more stressed and have less time for your loved ones and furry friends.

The New York Times lists a bunch of quotes from economists that can be summed up as advice to the Obama administration to do more.  To be fair on Friday, Obama signed legislation that will extend unemployment benefits and the tax credit.

John Nichols of The Nation points out that the real unemployment rate is 17.5%. WHAT! Yep, you have to include all of those people who have gotten discouraged and stop looking for work.  Unemployment figures only count people who look for work, but can't find it.  Economists have a term for people who have given up - discouraged workers. And if you include those people, unemployment rises big time. Nichols joins the call that Obama and the Dems must become the party of jobs and start investing in America to create jobs.  Sounds very Keynsian, even though he has fallen out of fashion since the Reagan era.

I'm going to look on the bright side of things for now - yeah for time.