Jobs Jobs Jobs
Posted by Michelle Moquin on January 7th, 2012
And I don’t mean “Steve”. (Nothing personal Steve:)
Good morning everyone!
U.S. Economy Adds 200,000 Jobs In December As Jobless Rate Falls To 8.5 Percent
After months of reports suggesting that the U.S. labor market might never change, the latest jobs picture is giving Americans something they haven’t had for some time: a reason to HOPE. ( Yes, that’s me. I changed it to my version of HOPE :)
In December, the U.S. added 200,000 jobs — beating economists’ expectations — while the unemployment rate dipped to 8.5 percent, the government reported on Friday.
Although part of the drop in the unemployment rate came from some 50,000 Americans leaving the labor force — once a person gives up looking for work, they are no longer counted as unemployed — most of it came from real progress: more jobs. And while many economists say that 300 or 400 thousand jobs per month, month after month, are needed to dig America out of the massive jobs hole the recession created, on Friday morning, labor market watchers were celebrating.
“I think it’s a very positive report, unambiguously,” said Mark Zandi, Chief Economist of Moody’s Analytics. “Generally you have a lot of cross currents, but this suggests that the job market and the economy are gaining broader traction.”
Average hourly earnings also rose by 4 cents, while the average workweek ticked up by .1 hours to 34.4.
“I thought the numbers were pretty darn good,” said Stuart Hoffman, chief economist for The PNC Financial Services Group. Hoffman sees this report as the resumption of a trend in growth that began at the beginning of last year, but flattened out over the summer, slowed by rising oil prices, uncertainty in Washington, the tsunami in Japan and other threatening global forces.
“All of these new signs send the same positive signal about a real improvement.” Hoffman said.
Job gains came in retail, a steady winner in the post-recession days, along with manufacturing, mining, health care and leisure and hospitality. Government employment, which shed 280,000 positions over the past year, slowed its losses to 12,000 fewer positions in December.
If there is one dark spot, it is the continued decline of the labor force — which has been an increasing worry throughout the post-recession days.
Plus, there are still over five and a half million Americans who have been out of work for six months or more — some 42.5 percent of all unemployed. Of those, 1.9 million have been out of a job for 99 weeks or longer. And for those folks, such signs of improvement may not translate to new hope.
And these figures don’t even capture the complete picture, some economists say. While long-term unemployment rates have been stuck at record highs for two years, the government numbers don’t tell the full story of those suffering in the labor market. In order to be counted as officially long-term unemployed, a person must be out of a job for 6 consecutive months and consistently looking for work.
In a new paper co-authored by John Schmitt, a senior economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, he examines a definition of long-term unemployment that casts a wider net to include not just those who can’t find work, but also those who can only find part-time work, have given up looking, or have finally found something steady but the work just isn’t good. He calls it “long-term hardship.”
“Let’s say you were a long-term unemployed steel worker from Ohio and you buckled under and said, ‘Okay, I’m going to work for Walmart for 9 dollars an hour’ — have your problems been solved?” Schmitt said. “Are you no longer experiencing hardship in the labor market?”
By Schmitt’s count, from 2007 to 2010, the number of unofficially long-term unemployed increased by almost as much those who were officially out of a job by the government’s count. (2.0 percentage points of the working-age population versus 2.5 percentage points).
“The government’s count of the long-term unemployed is important, but it hides almost as much as it reveals,” Schmitt said. Schmitt sees very little on the horizon to ease the suffering of long-term hardship.
For those workers, who have likely seen their skills and savings erode over the last few years, getting back into the labor market will prove ever-more difficult, particularly if job creation keeps chugging along around 150 or 200 jobs a month. The new jobs, research shows, will probably go to the freshly unemployed.
This is a reality that Hazel Feldman is all too familiar with. Feldman is 58 and living in New York City. She has a masters degree in social work from Hunter College and a B.A. from Fordham University, and a long career as a social worker behind her. But besides a little bit of off-the-books childcare, she’s been unable to find work since August 2008.
She’s still looking, but she’s given up hoping she’ll ever find anything.
“It just goes on and on and on because there are no jobs,” Feldman said. She is nearly out of her small pool of savings and lives very frugally, walking all over the city to save the subway fare.
“It’s not getting better, so it’s getting worse,” she said.
Arthur Delaney contributed to this reporting.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
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Readers: Watch the above video if you haven’t already. It’s a hoot. Don’t you just love the way the republicans call themselves “Job Creators”…yet…Helloooo – where are all these jobs they claim they are creating? LSOS.
So enough on the LSOS for now…onto something a bit more inspiring…I think we hit a record number of comments yesterday. Not sure though, maybe not – but hey, it certainly is fantastic being with all of you here. It’s Saturday…a day for play. And I’m going to do just that. So I’m signing off – the forum is now open for comments, rants, raves, thoughts, suggestions…whatever. Blog me.
xo BABE*
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka *BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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January 7th, 2012 at 10:34 am
Hungry Girl’s Low-Cal Party Favorites
Party snacks don’t have to be loaded with calories to be tasty. Lisa Lillien has made sure of that. Her mission is to turn high-fat foods into lower-calorie indulgences.
Her free Hungry Girl newsletter is e-mailed to nearly a million readers daily, and her cookbooks are best-sellers. Here are two recipes from her book, Hungry Girl Happy Hour.
MMMM-AZING MINI MUSHROOM TARTLETS
Per serving (5 tartlets): 120 calories vs. 325 calories for a standard recipe
1 cup finely chopped portabella mushrooms
⅓ cup finely chopped white onion
3 Tablespoons chopped scallions
3 Tablespoons fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
½ teaspoon chopped garlic
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 dashes black pepper
2 dashes nutmeg
15 mini phyllo dough shells (found in the freezer aisle)
Preheat oven to 375°F. Bring a pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add mushrooms and onion. Cook until soft.
Place the mushrooms and onion in a small bowl. Add the scallions, cream cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg, and mix well.
Evenly distribute the mushroom mixture among the phyllo shells. Arrange the shells on a baking sheet sprayed lightly with nonstick spray.
Bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until edges of the tartlets are crisp. Allow to cool slightly before serving. Makes three servings.
5.25 g fat, 260 mg sodium, 14.5 g carbs, 0.75 g fiber, 1.5 g sugars, 3.5 g protein
CRAZY-CREAMY SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP
Can be served hot or cold
Per serving (⅓ cup): 91 calories vs. 220 calories for a standard recipe
One 8-ounce tub fat-free cream cheese, room temperature
¼ cup fat-free sour cream
¼ cup fat-free mayonnaise
¼ cup reduced-fat Parmesan-style grated topping, divided
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 Tablespoons minced shallots
2 cloves garlic, minced
One 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
One 14-ounce can artichoke hearts packed in water, drained thoroughly and chopped
Half an 8-ounce can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
If you want to serve this dish hot, preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, mayo and three tablespoons of the Parm-style topping. Mix well. Add salt and cayenne pepper, and stir until smooth. Set aside.
In a pan sprayed with nonstick spray, cook the shallots and garlic over medium heat on the stove until soft, one to two minutes.
Add the shallot-garlic mixture to the large bowl, along with the spinach, artichoke hearts and water chestnuts. Stir well.
If serving the dip cold, top with remaining one tablespoon of Parm-style topping and you’re done.
If you are serving the dip hot, transfer to a medium casserole dish, top with the remaining Parm-style topping and then bake in a 350°F oven for about 30 minutes, until bubbly.
Let cool slightly before serving. Makes eight servings. Use veggies for dipping.
1.5 g fat, 584 mg sodium, 11 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 3.5 g sugars, 7 g protein
Personal interviewed Lisa Lillien, author of four best selling cookbooks, including Hungry Girl 1-2-3 and Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 (both from St. Martin’s).
The Hungry Girl television show is broadcast on the Food Network. To sign up for her free daily newsletter, go to http://www.Hungry-Girl.com.
January 7th, 2012 at 10:47 am
The Navigator is on his way. Set vavr 7. Engage 3819351
vector 765537.
CL27/t37
January 7th, 2012 at 11:04 am
Al, thank you for writing. We will be the hit at the next meeting. It certainly is enjoyable reading your posts. You add a different feel to the blog.
It’s like you can move between the regulars with your wit and cut through the tension. I told the girls from the beginning that you were either an alien or in training to be an envoy for aliens.
They said that I see aliens in every mystery. But you are not a mystery to me. I see a man with a mission to bring reason where chaos reigns.
I have always wanted to be a Girlz, but I’m 63 too old. But I can dream. It must be incredibly nice to venture into outer space with the ability to control your destiny.
I’m a retired LCN. I worked in developing countries teaching medicine to those who had never heard of a doctor.
Those were adventuresome days. I lost three husbands to the jungles or disease. I was shot three times by evil men who didn’t like their country getting advice from outsiders.
I wouldn’t trade a moment for anything. I loved being able to help and I loved the adventure.
So forgive an old lady for her over bearing interest. Memories are all I have now.
Grace
January 7th, 2012 at 11:10 am
Forget these numbers, and discount these as BS as you say, however he has had 24 straight months of Growth in Employment, and the economy has been recovering very slowly…
These are from economists not dems or reps… The last Depression it took almost 15 years and a tax rate that at times was 70% to as high as 90%…
This is a fact, and easily checked… I really don’t think that a concervative would have done any better, given the sheer multitude, complexity and magnitude of the problems we were facing….
In fact looking at McCain and the many off moments he has been suffering lately, and Palin looking for financial (show biz) opportunity rather than concentrating on politics, I would say the nation made a good decision overall…
You hate him so, don’t vote for him, but to consistenty not give him any credit for anything makes your entire party look small, and petty… This will translate into loss of votes come the fall…
January 7th, 2012 at 11:12 am
The numbers tell me two things. First, at the macro level, things are getting better. Second, at the macro level things are still bad.
Nevertheless, we are slowly moving in the right direction. And, to use your analogy, you are correct that we all look in our wallets to see how things are the micro level.
January 7th, 2012 at 11:13 am
I support our president. I just don’t think we are making the kind of progress that is needed. Our skilled labor force is dying.
We need the Republicans to stop killing our economy to make Obama look bad. We need a higher amount of revenue and we need to stop supporting companies in their bid to move off shore.
We need to look a waste in the gov and the military. We need to stop screaming at people who need bread, shoes and medical care.
We need to kill the myth that poor people don’t want to work. I’m sorry my snarky remark did not send the right message.
January 7th, 2012 at 11:14 am
What I don’t understand is why the media don’t just openly mock the GOP candidates.
It’s not like they deserve to be taken seriously.
January 7th, 2012 at 11:22 am
Obama did not take his oath of office until January 2009, but yet the Republicans blame him for the job loss.
The republican legislators act like they expect him to create jobs when they know that Obama does not have the power to create jobs.
It is their duty, and really not theirs it is the State Governors and Mayors of Cities to attract new businesses in the State and towns.
January 7th, 2012 at 11:24 am
Looks like someone pissed off the island of Guam.
January 7th, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Hi Grace, I was only fooling around. I was never in outerspace in my life. I don’t want to be in the LSOS Club. I am not an Alien and neither is Howie.
I don’t think 63 is too old to be a Girlz, I would have guesssed you to be 33. Ask Michelle if you can be a Girlz. I envy your adventures in those developing countries. You have had much adventure, sorry about your husbands, but I am sure you have done much good work helping others. And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Bye Grace,
Al
January 8th, 2012 at 7:34 am
Texas? Really?! I didn’t realize that there was much intelligence left in that state…baby steps, indeed!
http://dogblog.dogster.com/2012/01/05/groundbreaking-court-ruling-takes-dogs-beyond-property-status-major-pet-industry-groups-not-happy/