Who ARE the unemployed?

[Owlet]

Just who are the unemployed? I mean, how many by some sort of job skills category? Is there a government website that provides this information?

Here's why I'm asking. Please excuse my ignorance in this.

I know several people who have lost jobs in the past 8 - 14 months and who have not yet found other work. One was an executive assistant in an insurance company, late 30's, divorced. Another worked as a machinist for a defense contractor who sent his job to Georgia. He's 54, married, 2 grown kids. A third is a housecleaner who was laid off because folks around here are cutting back on those kinds of services. She is 62, divorced, not in the best of health. I could list a dozen more, but of the people I know who are no longer employed, only one is a former construction worker. He used to build houses and now works from time to time as a handyman.

My point is this: where is the jobs program for these people? Somehow I don't see any of them working on some infrastructure project.

Oh, and there's this: the three examples I cited above are all members of the Democrat Town Committee where I live. Ironically, with their forced idleness they have time available and all three were very helpful in our recent primary.

[dkf]

1. It seems hopeless doesn't it?

That really sucks.

[ixion]

2. they span all trades and professions

from blue collar labor to IT, and all points in between.

[NRaleighLiberal]

3. Me, and many of my friends - here's who we are -

mid 50s, some men and some women - some bachelors, some masters, some PhDs - long career in Pharma, in some cases our only jobs for more than 20 years. chemists, biologists, clinical professionals, finance, process improvement skills sprinkled among us. Very good salaries and benefits and work conditions while we were at the big company.... Then - poof! - due to offshoring, oursourcing, pressure on the industry, cost cutting - dozens and dozens of us end up on the outside looking in. No - there are no job programs, and no jobs - we are overqualified, overpaid, too old - you name it. I've been out since end of March and we are just trying to make a go of it until SS/our 401K (now a quickly shrinking IRA kicks in).

And I suspect this scenario is being played out in many, many places. Some of my friends have given up - so no longer being counted. I am still collecting - so at least am a smidgeon of a statistic.

[blue neen]

4. Kapow! You said it.

Pharmacy tech here (not just a pill counter, handled insurance claims, disability, the whole schmeer).

We were well paid, because we essentially ran the place. The pharmacy shut down, because the owner/pharmacist had an "illness".

Unemployment is done...I'm 56 years old...I'm no longer counted.

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. Well, hang in there. I suspect we count a hell of a lot more than those who run these companies

into the ground.

We are finding alternate ways to enhance our lives - turning our hobbies more into very small businesses - just to make enough - simplifying, doing without extras (and happier because of it). I am working on my first book - my wife is starting to sell some of the quilts and other things she makes.

Wishing you well!

:hi:

[Kat45]

6. In in my fifties, masters degree, and had been doing admin work in recent years.

My last job ended over two and a half years ago, and the longer I'm out of work, the less likely am I to remember the different software I'd used at different jobs. Not to mention other software that I'd never had to use. Each job expects knowledge of a different group of programs. It makes no sense to take classes because I don't know which I will need, and if I'm not using it frequently I won't remember it anyway. It probably doesn't matter anyway because employers can--and would rather--hire younger people who were weaned on computers. Maybe I'm wrong, but I tend to assume that all the younger folks out there know all of the software, and know it very well.

The reason I started doing administrative work a decade ago, after my long time job was sent on a slow boat to the Philippines, was because those jobs were around, I could get them, and they paid better than writing jobs. (With my education, these would never have been my first choice in jobs.) Now, the skills are more complex and employers expect you to be expert in every single thing you might ever have to do in the position. I sometimes think I'm not even qualified for any job anymore and it's scary!

By the way, I don't know if I've ever been counted as unemployed because I've never been able to collect! My last position was with a church, and you can't collect unemployment when you work for a church.

[tech5270]

7. Here's my stupid story, take it for what it's worth

I quit working back in 2002. My profession was electronics repair. I loved the work I did and keep my hands in it to this day. I worked for both international corporations and family businesses. I worked for starvation wages and got paid fairly well. The pay wasn't an issue, I loved what I did and knew I was giving the customer something for their dollar.

I quit being a wage slave because the same mentality in every business I dealt with. Employee's were no longer considered an asset just a liability. I spent the last 15 years trying to keep the company from committing financial suicide. It broke my back, ruined my marriage, and broke my heart. I watched so many good people walk in and out of the companies I worked for, I just couldn't take it any more.

There isn't a company I worked with that wouldn't take me back in a minute. I just can't do it until management can think beyond the next quarter.
I know there are some companies out there that are thinking in the long term. When it's time to get back to work, I hope I can find them. Right now my job is taking care of my 90 y/o mother. I don't think I could have a better job.

edit spelling

[pinqy]

8. Breakdown of the Unemployed

From the http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm">Employment Situation Report
The A tables will give you the numbers of unemployed by age, race, sex, education, veteran's status, disability, former industry, reason for unemployment, length of unemployment etc.

[Owlet]

11. That's just what I was looking for

Thanks...:)

[Warpy]

9. All infrastructure jobs aren't going to require hard hats, strong backs,

and the knowledge to run heavy equipment. There are also going to be jobs counting hours and making payrolls, paying supplier bills, balancing books, and the usual answering phones and filing. You don't have to be young and strong to do office work. You just need a working knowledge of English and some math skills are a plus. If you're at all computer literate, so much the better.

Don't forget that the jobs that put money into workers' pockets are also going to help them create demand for goods and services and don't forget also that there is a hell of a lot of pent up demand. The wheezing energy hog refrigerators and stoves with burned out elements need to be replaced, the cars need to be fixed or replaced, hair needs to be groomed to fit into the office, adequate clothing needs to be purchased, and those toothaches will be taken care of at long last. Every single infrastructure job is going to create a ripple effect of more jobs created at every single level.

Remember, economies function from the bottom up, not from the top down. The Republicans get it backwards and that's why they invariably crash the economy whenever they're in power too long.

[raccoon]

12. This one's a keeper: "economies function from the bottom up, not from the top down." nt

[AnneD]

10. There seems to be no rhyme or reason.....

I know lawyers, doctors, nurses, researchers, housekeepers, carpenters, and mechanics that are having hard times. It varies by region also.

That is why it is so scary. It seems so random.