Hey kids, is the work day getting you down? Well, some facts and figures on the state of employment in America have been released recently, and they are sobering. Keep squirreling away something for a rainy day, because the storm clouds are still hanging over our collective heads.
Percentages:
- 8.6 to 8.9 percent. That’s where the Federal Reserve expects the unemployment rate to be at the end of this year. Not everyone agrees — Goldman Sachs expects unemployment to still hover near 9 percent at the end of 2012.
- 9.1 percent. That is today’s unemployment rate — the highest it has been since 1982.
- 9.6 percent. Who says college isn’t worth it? The unemployment rate for those whose highest level of education is high school stands at 9.6 percent. For those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, the rate is only 4.3 percent.
- 58 percent. In December 2007, as a percentage of the work-age population, 63 percent of age-eligible workers were employed. Today, that stands at 58 percent.
The Big Numbers:
- 2.6 million. That’s the number of people who are considered marginally attached to the labor force, up 200,000 from a year earlier. 977,000 of that 2.6 million are considered “discouraged workers,” unemployed individuals who have given up looking for work.
- 11.5 million. Currently, there are 11.5 million fewer job holders than there were in 2007 before the recession began.
- 6 million. That’s how many workers have been out of work for at least six months and have looked for a job within the last 30 days.
- 131.2 million. The total number of jobs held by Americans in August. In January 2000, total nonfarm employment stood at 130.8 million. That means that over the past decade, less than 400,000 jobs have been added overall. At the same time, the eligible work-age population has grown by 28 million.
Time:
- 40 months. The average duration of unemployment is more than three years.
