Part-Time Workers Mask Unemployment Woes

In California and a handful of other states, one out of every five people who would like to be working full time is not now doing so.

It is a startling sign of the pain that the Great Recession is inflicting, and it is largely missed by the official, oft-repeated statistics on unemployment. The national unemployment rate has risen to 9.5 percent, the highest level in more than a quarter-century. Yet it still excludes all those who have given up looking for a job and those part-time workers who want to be working full time.

Include them — as the Labor Department does when calculating its broadest measure of the job market — and the rate reached 23.5 percent in Oregon this spring, according to a New York Times analysis of state-by-state data. It was 21.5 percent in both Michigan and Rhode Island and 20.3 percent in California. In Tennessee, Nevada and several other states that have relied heavily on manufacturing or housing, the rate was just under 20 percent this spring and may have since surpassed it.

Almost nobody believes that unemployment has finished rising, either. On Tuesday, President Obama said he expected it to “tick up for several months.”

It’s fair to say, then, that the downturn is moving into a new stage. It has already been through three: the prologue, when credit markets began to quiver in 2007; the big shock, when the collapse of Lehman Brothers, in September 2008, led into almost six months of terrible economic news; and the stabilization, when the news became more mixed. Read more…

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Joblessness Hits 9.5%, Deflating Recovery Hopes

The American economy lost 467,000 more jobs in June, and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent in a sobering indication that the longest recession since the 1930s had yet to release its hold.

“The numbers are indicative of a continued, very severe recession,” said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh. “There’s nothing in here to show that the economy and the market are pulling out of the grip of recession.”

The Labor Department’s monthly snapshot of employment, released Thursday, challenged visions of a recovery already taking root. The numbers intensify pressure on the Obama administration to show returns on programs aimed at improving national fortunes — not least its $787 billion stimulus plan.

Some economists are now calling for another dose of government spending to stimulate the economy, though the White House maintains that enough money is in the pipeline already.

“Not all the recovery money has been put to work yet,” said the labor secretary, Hilda L. Solis. “We’re making progress.”

But Ms. Solis acknowledged that joblessness was already much worse than the administration projected in January when it created its stimulus spending bill, suggesting then that joblessness would peak at about 8 percent.

Asked why the unemployment rate is already much higher, Ms. Solis noted that much of the stimulus money was moving slowly, with construction projects in particular requiring time-consuming government permits.

“Over all, it’s been a challenge,” Ms. Solis said. “We still have a ways to go.”

That explanation echoed criticism that some initially leveled at the spending package when it was debated in Congress: many of the projects would take too long to get going, creating too few jobs in the near term. Still, Ms. Solis portrayed the program as a success. Read more…

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Job Retraining May Fall Short of High Hopes

CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — For the second time in three years, Mike Hutchins, a laid-off automotive engineer, is preparing to enroll in job retraining at a local community college, this time to become a civil engineering technician. But he has no idea if he has chosen the right path.

“I’m fumbling around in the dark,” said Mr. Hutchins, 58.

The industry where Mr. Hutchins worked for 25 years has shriveled. The courses in computer-aided design that he finished last year in his initial effort at retraining failed to lead to employment. “I’m looking for a job that will give mesome type of a future,” he said.

Tens of thousands of laid-off workers like Mr. Hutchins have turned to retraining as a lifeline. Yet for all the popularity of these government-financed programs, there are questions about whether they actually work, even as President Obama’s stimulus plan directs $1.4 billion more to retraining and other services for people who have lost their jobs. Read more…

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Tracking Your Local Unemployment Rate

In the past we’ve referred readers to some useful online tools that can help put economic headlines into context. Here’s another worth checking out: Google.

Google recently added a search result that pulls out and graphs public data. Search for any state or county and the word “unemployment,” and you will see an interactive chart showing that jurisdiction’s historical unemployment rates. There are also options to compare rates in multiple regions. This chart, for example, shows you unemployment rates in the United States, New York State and Manhattan (New York County). Read more…

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Joblessness Hits 9.5%, Deflating Recovery Hopes

The American economy lost 467,000 more jobs in June, and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent in a sobering indication that the longest recession since the 1930s had yet to release its hold.

“The numbers are indicative of a continued, very severe recession,” said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh. “There’s nothing in here to show that the economy and the market are pulling out of the grip of recession.”

The Labor Department’s monthly snapshot of employment, released Thursday, challenged visions of a recovery already taking root. The numbers intensify pressure on the Obama administration to show returns on programs aimed at improving national fortunes — not least its $787 billion stimulus plan.

Some economists are now calling for another dose of government spending to stimulate the economy, though the White House maintains that enough money is in the pipeline already.

“Not all the recovery money has been put to work yet,” said the labor secretary, Hilda L. Solis. “We’re making progress.”

But Ms. Solis acknowledged that joblessness was already much worse than the administration projected in January when it created its stimulus spending bill, suggesting then that joblessness would peak at about 8 percent.

Asked why the unemployment rate is already much higher, Ms. Solis noted that much of the stimulus money was moving slowly, with construction projects in particular requiring time-consuming government permits. Read more…

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Joblessness Hits 9.5%, Deflating Recovery Hopes

The American economy lost 467,000 more jobs in June, and the unemployment rate edged up to 9.5 percent in a sobering indication that the longest recession since the 1930s had yet to release its hold.

“The numbers are indicative of a continued, very severe recession,” said Stuart G. Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh. “There’s nothing in here to show that the economy and the market are pulling out of the grip of recession.”

The Labor Department’s monthly snapshot of employment, released Thursday, challenged visions of a recovery already taking root. The numbers intensify pressure on the Obama administration to show returns on programs aimed at improving national fortunes — not least its $787 billion stimulus plan.

Some economists are now calling for another dose of government spending to stimulate the economy, though the White House maintains that enough money is in the pipeline already.

“Not all the recovery money has been put to work yet,” said the labor secretary, Hilda L. Solis. “We’re making progress.”

But Ms. Solis acknowledged that joblessness was already much worse than the administration projected in January when it created its stimulus spending bill, suggesting then that joblessness would peak at about 8 percent.

Asked why the unemployment rate is already much higher, Ms. Solis noted that much of the stimulus money was moving slowly, with construction projects in particular requiring time-consuming government permits. Read more…

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Snapple Deal To Outsource May Add Jobs In America

NEW DELHI — Even Snapple, an American iced tea maker with a homespun image, is outsourcing work to an Indian company. But in a twist, the deal may increase jobs in the United States.

The Dr Pepper Snapple Group said on Tuesday that it had signed a five-year contract with HCL Technologies, a major information technology and outsourcing company in Noida, India. HCL will manage Snapple’s computer networks — but may be hiring in the United States to do it.

HCL said that Dr Pepper Snapple would be its “anchor service desk customer” in an operation in Raleigh, N.C., that would eventually employ 500. With the new deal, HCL is continuing to “bring on new staff at our new facility in North Carolina,” Shami Khorana, president of HCL America, said in a statement.

Indian Informational technology and outsourcing companies have been increasing their use of so-called onshoring, or putting jobs in a client’s home market, as political pressures build to increase jobs in countries hard hit by the slowdown.

The practice is being directly promoted in some markets. The Australia Computer Society, a trade group, said this month that it was trying to help its members win back work that had gone overseas. Read more…

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Helping the Job Seeker Without Hurting Yourself

Q. You have been receiving several phone calls a week from people seeking help in finding a job. Although you want to be helpful, there is a limit to the time you can spend thinking about someone else’s job search. Whom should you help?

A. Those who are looking for work rely heavily on their networks for leads and often believe that because you have a job, you must know of other jobs. Because of layoffs and cuts, however, it is more likely that your job responsibilities have increased and that you are feeling insecure about your own position.

Yet it’s a good policy to help if you can, because you never know when the tables will turn. To avoid becoming overwhelmed, establish a system to process calls you receive, said Thom Singer, a business development consultant in Austin, Tex., and author of “The ABC’s of Networking.”

“Often the issue isn’t that you’re getting too many calls; it’s when the calls are from friends of friends or strangers, people you cannot vouch for,” Mr. Singer said. Read more…

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Job Cuts Down in June From May, Index Shows

Private employers in the United States cut 473,000 jobs in June, more than expected but down from the 485,000 jobs lost in May, a report by a private employment service said Wednesday.

The median of forecasts from 25 economists surveyed by Reuters for the ADP Employer Services report, jointly developed with Macroeconomic Advisers, was for 393,000 private-sector jobs lost in June.

Though June’s job loss was the smallest since October 2008, the surprisingly large number of cuts deals a setback to those expecting the United States economy to recover soon.

“The data surprises me a little bit in that the consensus out there seems to be that business is improving and that the economy has hit bottom,” said Mark Bonhard, investment adviser at Dawson Wealth Management in Cleveland. “This definitely is not good news.”

The May figure was revised from an originally reported loss of 532,000 jobs.

The ADP data comes ahead of Thursday’s monthly non-farm payrolls report from the government, which is much more comprehensive and includes both the public and private sectors.

Economists expect the payrolls report, which will be issued a day early because of to the Fourth of July holiday on Friday, to show a loss of 363,000 jobs in June and a rise in the unemployment rate to 9.6 percent from May’s 9.4 percent. Read more…

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California, Other States Face Tough Budget Choices

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Legislators in more than a half-dozen states, their revenues evaporating in the recession, frantically worked to stave off government shutdowns and devastating service cuts. California failed to meet a midnight deadline and now may need to issue IOUs instead of paying bills.

Across the country, lawmakers were feeling the heat as their legislatures began the new fiscal year without a budget in place.

In Illinois, the sputtering drive to come up with a state budget broke down completely Tuesday, leaving the state without any plan for paying its employees or delivering government services. The session ended without any firm plans to return or even for Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders to resume negotiations.

In Pennsylvania, talks between Gov. Ed Rendell and top legislators ended Tuesday night with no substantial progress, aides said. Rendell said he didn’t think an agreement would come soon. The state faces the prospect of not being able to pay state employees if they cannot resolve an impasse.
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