Don't you love how they always focus on new jobless claims instead of reporting the accumulated total number of jobless? It always makes me feel like my chocolate ration is increasing.

you mean to tell me there's unemployment BENEFITS
you lazy libs almost had me believing that being poor and unemployed was hard!

elffster: Dictatorial_Flair: Don't you love how they always focus on new jobless claims instead of reporting the accumulated total number of jobless? It always makes me feel like my chocolate ration is increasing.

has it increased to .5 grams yet?

It's way past that, actually. I'm getting at least .35 grams a week.

Todays numbers place the unemployment rate at 4.5 percent here in South Dakota. The downside is that you have to live in South Dakota. Come on over, we need the workers.

dorko16: FlashHarry: probably because most of them are already jobless

[citation needed]

Link (new window)

Once they exhaust benefits they don't count toward the often-cited unemployment rate. Everyone on Fark knows this.

the "official" unemployment figures are a lie because of multiple faults.

Doesn't count the long term unemployed (no longer receiving benefits).
Doesn't count the under employed. An engineer working fast food is counted the same as one designing bridges.
Doesn't count students who went back to school (adding more loan debt) because it was the only way to put off paying back the loan without a job.

You want the job? You got the job! YOU GOT THE JOB!

falcon176: you mean to tell me there's unemployment BENEFITS
you lazy libs almost had me believing that being poor and unemployed was hard!

I also have a job and have 2 offers from separate companies so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

dorko16: Once they exhaust benefits they don't count toward the often-cited unemployment rate. Everyone on Fark knows this.

Unemployment does not work that way. The BLS counts anyone who is (a) not working and (b) actively looking for work as unemployed. To be fair, looking for work is a requirement for receiving benefits, and once those run out, some people give up and stop looking, and so no longer count as unemployed. But if you've run out of unemployment benefits and are still actively seeking work, you're counted. Also, if you didn't qualify for unemployment benefits (fired for cause, quit volunarily, were self-employed, et.c), but are still looking for work, you're counted.

fark Off subby, you worthless hippie. Everyone knows that the job market is just fine, why don't you get off your lazy ass and find a damn job. (new window)

darkscout: I also have a job and have 2 offers from separate companies so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

I just got 2 promotions in 1 week! Level 2 support, then critical skills, to application development! WOOT!

I resigned from my 80k job, am currently sitting home collecting full pay for the next 6 months and will be moving to Chicago in the next few weeks to start a 100k job. Just to rub it in deeper, I do not have a degree and never went to college.

I hope this post pisses you off.

I'm sure it's because the boot-strappy t-baggers aren't applying for benefits when they get laid off.

Cheer up, America! Go to your happy place! The Repubs know how!

Maybe the corporations are finally running out of people to fire lay off before their businesses crash and burn.
It's like a game of Jenga... there's only so many sticks you can pull out of the bottom before the stack collapses.

I really hope that the majority of these jobless people are Republicans.
They need to understand what it actually means to vote against your own self interests.

Lee Bruns: Todays numbers place the unemployment rate at 4.5 percent here in South Dakota. The downside is that you have to live in South Dakota. Come on over, we need the workers.

Don't listen to him. It's not worth it. Trust me. Pay is lower, derp is stronger, shiat's more expensive. Kroger? HAHAHAHA. Safeway sucks and is farking expensive. Wal-Mart sucks balls out here too. Gas is also about $0.30 than the national average. Indians hate you because you're white, the only restaurants are shiatty chains, any decent local place closes down after a year. To get anywhere is one hour, minimum. Bikers suck, Sturgis sucks, driving sucks, Thune sucks, everything sucks. Avoid this place like the plague.

My unemployment was over last week. I have one more check coming within the next couple days and then that's it.

I'm a highly qualified engineering technician with over a decade of professional experience, but I can't find work because there's no such thing as construction anymore where I live (California).

Luckily they're still building things in Canada, and I just got hooked up with a design company offering structural engineering services with clients in Canada. I'm working as an independent contractor and the money will be poor until I'm up to speed, but at least it's something.

It's baaaaaad out there.

unicron702: darkscout: I also have a job and have 2 offers from separate companies so I'm getting a kick out of these replies.

I just got 2 promotions in 1 week! Level 2 support, then critical skills, to application development! WOOT!

Not amused.

ThisNameSux: I resigned from my 80k job, am currently sitting home collecting full pay for the next 6 months and will be moving to Chicago in the next few weeks to start a 100k job. Just to rub it in deeper, I do not have a degree and never went to college.

I hope this post pisses you off.

What's your line of work? Default for Fark is usually 'IT'.

Gyrfalcon: Over in Alabama, they're desperate for workers.

Here is my favorite line from that article...

"Horner, who runs an 8½-acre organic blueberry farm, said she tried to use the government's visa program to hire foreign workers, but it was too costly and time consuming.

She plans to stop growing organically and start using a machine to pick the berries."

Okay all you out of work, eco-conscious, have a degree in some far out of demand field, types; put your money where your mouth is. Get to picking berries to keep things green or do nothing and complain that you can't afford organic berries.

Also, the Dakotas have plenty of available jobs.

Jobs are there, but people don't want to relocate to get to them. Sure, some people are stuck because of mortgages or family issues, but there should be plenty of people available to fill the demand that is out there. Guess my point is I have sympathy of some people, but others I have none for.

SusanIvanova: dorko16: Once they exhaust benefits they don't count toward the often-cited unemployment rate. Everyone on Fark knows this.

Unemployment does not work that way. The BLS counts anyone who is (a) not working and (b) actively looking for work as unemployed. To be fair, looking for work is a requirement for receiving benefits, and once those run out, some people give up and stop looking, and so no longer count as unemployed. But if you've run out of unemployment benefits and are still actively seeking work, you're counted. Also, if you didn't qualify for unemployment benefits (fired for cause, quit volunarily, were self-employed, et.c), but are still looking for work, you're counted.

How do they know that a person in that situation is "actively seeking work"?

/really, I don't know how they would know that

This economy SUCKS.

The unemployment rate is way higher than the reports claim!

The silly UER DOES NOT include those who have simply given up.

Things havent sucked this much sinse Jimmy Carter !

SusanIvanova: dorko16: Once they exhaust benefits they don't count toward the often-cited unemployment rate. Everyone on Fark knows this.

Unemployment does not work that way. The BLS counts anyone who is (a) not working and (b) actively looking for work as unemployed. To be fair, looking for work is a requirement for receiving benefits, and once those run out, some people give up and stop looking, and so no longer count as unemployed. But if you've run out of unemployment benefits and are still actively seeking work, you're counted. Also, if you didn't qualify for unemployment benefits (fired for cause, quit volunarily, were self-employed, et.c), but are still looking for work, you're counted.

And how do they track those who were denied?

I left one job for another and 9 days later, corporate closed the location. And we all know last hired, first fired. Anyway, my state employment security commission denied my claim despite 11 years of contiguous employment because I hadn't worked at the last job for two full weeks.

Once they roundfiled my claim, how does the gov know if I'm still looking for work?

I would have happily worked, but there are no jobs because the Republicans want Obama to be a one term President. I gave up looking for work. So, I applied for disability. Good pay for life. All I have to do is limp.

Thanks GOP.

ski9600: How do they know that a person in that situation is "actively seeking work"?

/really, I don't know how they would know that

They ask. The unemployment rate is calculated more or less as a poll, although with a great many more people than you'd usually see in a political horse-race poll (~60,000 if memory serves). They identify a representative sample of people, get a hold of them, and ask if they're working, if they've sent out an application/resume lately, and so forth. If you'd like to know in more detail, follow the link I included, it goes right to the BLS page describing in considerable detail what goes into the unemployment rate.

ByOwlLight: SusanIvanova: Also, if you didn't qualify for unemployment benefits (fired for cause, quit volunarily, were self-employed, et.c), but are still looking for work, you're counted.

And these people are counted how?

Obviously, they dutifully log into the unemployment website every week to 'prove' they're looking for work, even tho it gains them absolutely nothing!

iron_city_ap: Gyrfalcon: Over in Alabama, they're desperate for workers.

Here is my favorite line from that article...

"Horner, who runs an 8½-acre organic blueberry farm, said she tried to use the government's visa program to hire foreign workers, but it was too costly and time consuming.

She plans to stop growing organically and start using a machine to pick the berries."

Okay all you out of work, eco-conscious, have a degree in some far out of demand field, types; put your money where your mouth is. Get to picking berries to keep things green or do nothing and complain that you can't afford organic berries.

Also, the Dakotas have plenty of available jobs.

Jobs are there, but people don't want to relocate to get to them. Sure, some people are stuck because of mortgages or family issues, but there should be plenty of people available to fill the demand that is out there. Guess my point is I have sympathy of some people, but others I have none for.

And where would these jobs be found? (I'm actually interested but since I take immunosuppresants for Crohn's and have the CD-related peripheral arthritis, anything dirty or physical labor is a non-starter)

ByOwlLight: And these people are counted how?

Just like me, they applied for state disability. Better benefits, no pesky job searches. Shuffle. Shuffle. Shuffle.

I hear the Kochs are hiring astroturfers.

Clearly the answer to our unemployment problem is MOAR PEOPLE

The most accurate and therefore last number to be reported would be the total percentage of working age adults who are actually employed full time.

I'm guessing that number will be pretty depressing.

santadog: Move to where the jobs are. ..and I'm not trolling here. My Grandparents with my mother and other family members fled E.Germany for W. in '48. There weren't jobs in West Germany, so the 2 families moved to Montana to work oil rigs in '53. A few years later, my Grandparents moved the family to Cleveland, Ohio for better work at the Ford Plant.
I left Cleveland for Austin, Texas in 92 for better work.
And finally I'm in Colorado for my own business.

This country was founded and by immigrants who moved to make a better way for their families.

The country has become to complacent with location.


Political expediency has created a system of tax breaks and generous loans that encourages people to take out home mortgages that they should never have.

When the housing market tanked they could either sell their houses at a major loss (which for most people is the bulk of their net worth) or they can hang around and hope for the best.

Encouraging home ownernship as an essential part of the american dream was a horrible idea. It anchors people to depressed areas, saddle them with a debt they can't pay should they lose their job, and increases unemployment.

We really need to do away with any incentives for people to take out housing loans. If you can afford it do so, otherwise rent.

Pancoaifo: And where would these jobs be found? (I'm actually interested but since I take immunosuppresants for Crohn's and have the CD-related peripheral arthritis, anything dirty or physical labor is a non-starter)

Dude, you have it made. Although you could have had a job in a heartbeat, the Republicans want you to be an unemployed statistic in their battle to be sure Obama is a one-term President. Play those MOFO's own game. Repeat after me. "State disability." Shuffle. Shuffle. Red Dump. Shuffle. Pay Check.

dorko16: FlashHarry: probably because most of them are already jobless

[citation needed]

Link (new window)

Once they exhaust benefits they don't count toward the often-cited unemployment rate. Everyone on Fark knows this.

As long as I do "single-payment" jobs of no more than $200 I don't have to claim it as taxable income.
So there's that.
Screw this broken system.