This Is What Employment In America Really Looks Like…
By Michael Snyder, on April 6th, 2014
The
level of employment in the United States has been declining since the
year 2000. There have been moments when things have appeared to have
been getting better for a short period of time, and then the decline has
resumed. Thanks to the
offshoring of millions of jobs, the replacement of millions of workers
with technology
and the overall weakness of the U.S. economy, the percentage of
Americans that are actually working is significantly lower than it was
when this century began. And even though things have stabilized at a
reduced level over the past few years, it is only a matter of time until
the next major wave of the economic collapse strikes and the employment
level goes even lower. And the truth is that more good jobs are being
lost every single day in America. For example, as you will read about
below, Warren Buffett is shutting down a Fruit of the Loom factory
in Kentucky
and moving it to Honduras just so that he can make a little bit more
money. We see this kind of betrayal over and over again, and it is
absolutely ripping the middle class of America
to shreds.
Below
I have posted a chart that you never hear any of our politicians talk
about. It is a chart that shows how the percentage of working age
Americans with a job has steadily declined since the turn of the
century. Just before the last recession, we were sitting at about 63
percent, but now we have been below 59 percent since the end of 2009...
We should be thankful that things have stabilized at this lower level for the past few years.
At least things have not been getting worse.
But anyone that believes that "things have returned to normal" is just being delusional.
And
nothing is being done about the long-term trends that are absolutely
crippling our economy. One of those trends is the offshoring of middle
class jobs. As I mentioned above, Fruit of the Loom (which is
essentially owned by Warren Buffett) has made the decision to close
their factory in Jamestown, Kentucky and lay off all the workers at that
factory
by the end of 2014...
Clothing
company Fruit of the Loom announced Thursday that it will permanently
close its plant in Jamestown and lay off all 600 employees by the end of
the year.
The Jamestown plant is the last Fruit of the Loom plant
in a state where the company had once been a manufacturing titan second
only to General Electric.
This isn't being done
because Fruit of the Loom is going out of business. They are still
going to be making t-shirts and underwear. They are just going to be
making them
in Honduras from now on...
The
company, owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway but headquartered
in Bowling Green, said the move is "part of the company's ongoing
efforts to align its global supply chain" and will allow the company to
better use its existing investments to provide products cheaper and
faster.
The company said it is moving the plant's textile operations to Honduras to save money.
So what are those workers supposed to do?
Go on welfare?
The number of Americans that are dependent on the government is already at an all-time record high.
And doesn't Warren Buffett already have enough money?
In business school, they teach you that the sole responsibility of a corporation is to maximize wealth for the shareholders.
And so when business students get out into "the real world", that is how they behave.
But
the truth is that corporations have a responsibility to treat their
workers, their customers and the communities in which they operate
well. This responsibility exists whether corporate executives want to
admit it or not.
And we all have a responsibility to our fellow
citizens. When we stand aside and do nothing as millions of good paying
American jobs are shipped overseas so that the "one world economic
agenda" can be advanced and so that men like Warren Buffett can stuff
their pockets just a little bit more, we are failing our fellow
countrymen.
Because so many of us have fallen for the lie that
"globalism is good", we have allowed our once great manufacturing cities
to crumble and die. Just consider what is happening to
Detroit. It was once the greatest manufacturing city in the history of the planet, but now
foreign newspapers publish stories about what a horror show that it has become...
Read More Here
.....
Transmission of material in this release is embargoed until USDL-14-0530
8:30 a.m. (EDT) Friday, April 4, 2014
Technical information:
Household data: (202) 691-6378 • cpsinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/cps
Establishment data: (202) 691-6555 • cesinfo@bls.gov • www.bls.gov/ces
Media contact: (202) 691-5902 • PressOffice@bls.gov
THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION -- MARCH 2014
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 192,000 in March, and the unemployment rate
was unchanged at 6.7 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today.
Employment grew in professional and business services, in health care, and in mining
and logging.
Household Survey Data
In March, the number of unemployed persons was essentially unchanged at 10.5 million,
and the unemployment rate held at 6.7 percent. Both measures have shown little movement
since December 2013. Over the year, the number of unemployed persons and the unemployment
rate were down by 1.2 million and 0.8 percentage point, respectively. (See table A-1.)
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult women increased to 6.2
percent in March, and the rate for adult men decreased to 6.2 percent. The rates for
teenagers (20.9 percent), whites (5.8 percent), blacks (12.4 percent), and Hispanics
(7.9 percent) showed little or no change. The jobless rate for Asians was 5.4 percent
(not seasonally adjusted), little changed from a year earlier. (See tables A-1, A-2,
and A-3.)
The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more), at 3.7 million,
changed little in March; these individuals accounted for 35.8 percent of the unemployed.
The number of long-term unemployed was down by 837,000 over the year. (See table A-12.)
Both the civilian labor force and total employment increased in March. The labor force
participation rate (63.2 percent) and the employment-population ratio (58.9 percent)
changed little over the month. (See table A-1.) The number of persons employed part
time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was
little changed at 7.4 million in March. These individuals were working part time because
their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time work. (See
table A-8.)
In March, 2.2 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little changed
from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not
in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime
in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched
for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. (See table A-16.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 698,000 discouraged workers in March, down
slightly from a year earlier. (These data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged
workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are
available for them. The remaining 1.5 million persons marginally attached to the labor
force in March had not searched for work for reasons such as school attendance or family
responsibilities. (See table A-16.)
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 192,000 in March. Job growth averaged 183,000
per month over the prior 12 months. In March, employment grew in professional and business
services, in health care, and in mining and logging. (See table B-1.)
Professional and business services added 57,000 jobs in March, in line with its average
monthly gain of 56,000 over the prior 12 months. Within the industry, employment increased
in March in temporary help services (+29,000), in computer systems design and related
services (+6,000), and in architectural and engineering services (+5,000).
In March, health care added 19,000 jobs. Employment in ambulatory health care services
rose by 20,000, with a gain of 9,000 jobs in home health care services. Nursing care
facilities lost 5,000 jobs over the month. Job growth in health care averaged 17,000 per
month over the prior 12 months.
Employment in mining and logging rose in March (+7,000), with the bulk of the increase
occurring in support activities for mining (+5,000). Over the prior 12 months, the mining
and logging industry added an average of 3,000 jobs per month.
Employment continued to trend up in March in food services and drinking places (+30,000).
Over the past year, food services and drinking places has added 323,000 jobs.
Construction employment continued to trend up in March (+19,000). Over the past year,
construction employment has risen by 151,000.
Employment in government was unchanged in March. A decline of 9,000 jobs in federal
government was mostly offset by an increase of 8,000 jobs in local government, excluding
education. Over the past year, employment in federal government has fallen by 85,000.
Employment in other major industries, including manufacturing, wholesale trade, retail
trade, transportation and warehousing, information, and financial activities, changed
little over the month.
The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.2
hour in March to 34.5 hours, offsetting a net decline over the prior 3 months. The
manufacturing workweek rose by 0.3 hour in March to 41.1 hours, and factory overtime
rose by 0.1 hour to 3.5 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory
employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 0.3 hour to 33.7 hours. (See
tables B-2 and B-7.)
In March, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged
down by 1 cent to $24.30, following a 9 cent increase in February. Over the year,
average hourly earnings have risen by 49 cents, or 2.1 percent. In March, average
hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees edged down
by 2 cents to $20.47. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for January was revised from +129,000 to
+144,000, and the change for February was revised from +175,000 to +197,000. With these
revisions, employment gains in January and February were 37,000 higher than previously
reported.
_____________
The Employment Situation for April is scheduled to be released on Friday, May 2, 2014,
at 8:30 a.m. (EDT).
.....
Another Fraudulent Jobs Report — Paul Craig Roberts
Another Fraudulent Jobs Report
Paul Craig Roberts
The March payroll jobs report released April 4 claims 192,000 new private sector jobs.
Here is what John Williams has to say about the claim:
“The
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) deliberately publishes its
seasonally-adjusted historical payroll-employment and household-survey
(unemployment) data so that the numbers are neither consistent nor
comparable with current headline reporting. The upside revisions to the
January and February monthly jobs gains, and the relatively strong
March payroll showing, reflected nothing more than concealed, favorable
shifts in underlying seasonal factors, hidden by the lack of consistent
BLS reporting. In like manner, consistent month-to-month changes in the
unemployment rate or labor force simply are not knowable, because the
BLS cloaks the consistent and comparable numbers.”
Here is what
Dave Kranzler has to say: “the employment report is probably the most
deceptively fraudulent report produced by the Government.”
As I
have pointed out for a decade, the “New Economy” jobs that we were
promised in exchange for our manufacturing jobs and tradable
professional service jobs that were offshored have never shown up. The
transnational corporations and their hired shills among economists lied
to us. Not even a jobs report as deceptive and fraudulent as the BLS
payroll jobs report can hide the fact that Congress, the White House,
and the American people have sat sucking their thumbs while corporations
maximized profits for the one percent at the expense of everyone else
in the United States.
Let’s look at where the alleged jobs are.
The BLS jobs report says that 28,400 jobs were created in March in
wholesale and retail sales. March is the month that Macy’s, Sears, JC
Penny, Staples, Radio Shack, Office Depot, and other retailers announced
combined closings of several thousand stores, but more retail clerks
were hired.
The BLS payroll jobs report claims 57,000 jobs in
“professional and business services.” Are these jobs for lawyers,
accountants, architects, engineers, and managers? No. The combined new
jobs for these middle class professional skills totaled 10,400.
Employment services accounted for 42,000 of the jobs in “professional
and business services” of which temporary help accounted for 28,500.
Read More Here
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