US unemployment rate reaches 22.8%
May. 8th, 2020 03:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pyesetzIt must be so because I read it on CNN. The "U6" rate is the one that was previously called "the unemployment rate". It is the one that is comparable to the "25% unemployment" figure that is usually quoted for the nadir of the 1930's Great Depression. We are only two percentage-points shy of that — and next month's figure is expected to be worse.
The "U3" rate is only 14.7%. This number was constructed to be smaller than the U6 number, so that people wouldn't complain to politicians so much. It is not comparable to previous depressions.
In either case, the "labor force participation rate" has dropped to 60.2%, which is not as bad as the 58.1% figure for December 1954, but is otherwise awful. Only 6 Americans out of every 10 have jobs.
Here is a summary of what the USA intends to do about this: "fear of catching the virus would be considered a voluntary resignation, which disqualifies workers from receiving unemployment benefits." If the serfs do not go back to work then we shall starve them back to work! This is not a new idea in America, that wage-slaves will only work if they're hungry so you mustn't feed them too much. If you treated your dog that way, you'd be arrested for animal cruelty.
It is unclear what the corresponding situation is in Canada, because the government has decided to respond to the emergency by changing their rules on how to calculate unemployment. But they claim that their U3-equivalent rate is only 13.0%, or "really" 17.8% if you include the effects of COVID-19. According to this page the labour force participation rate for Ontario is 63%. Go us!
The "U3" rate is only 14.7%. This number was constructed to be smaller than the U6 number, so that people wouldn't complain to politicians so much. It is not comparable to previous depressions.
In either case, the "labor force participation rate" has dropped to 60.2%, which is not as bad as the 58.1% figure for December 1954, but is otherwise awful. Only 6 Americans out of every 10 have jobs.
Here is a summary of what the USA intends to do about this: "fear of catching the virus would be considered a voluntary resignation, which disqualifies workers from receiving unemployment benefits." If the serfs do not go back to work then we shall starve them back to work! This is not a new idea in America, that wage-slaves will only work if they're hungry so you mustn't feed them too much. If you treated your dog that way, you'd be arrested for animal cruelty.
It is unclear what the corresponding situation is in Canada, because the government has decided to respond to the emergency by changing their rules on how to calculate unemployment. But they claim that their U3-equivalent rate is only 13.0%, or "really" 17.8% if you include the effects of COVID-19. According to this page the labour force participation rate for Ontario is 63%. Go us!
no subject
Date: 2020-05-08 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-05-08 11:07 pm (UTC)I got this number by Googling "labor force participation rate". Google promoted as their "featured snippet" this page, which no longer contains the info they said it did! It was supposed to say "Labor Force Participation Rate in the United States averaged 62.88 percent from 1948 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 67.30 percent in January of 2000 and a record low of 58.10 percent in December of 1954."
The unemployment rate in Dec. 1954 was only 4.2%, so the problem was non-participation rather than lack of pre-Christmas work. Perhaps it was because so many women were staying home to take care of their Baby Boom children? The 1950's were a time of "restoration" of American gender roles after WWII.
But, as you say, this was just after the Korean War. So, I dunno.