Fri. March 04, 2011
The new unemployment numbers are in, and the results continue to depress. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is reporting that unemployment numbers have decreased for the third month in a row to 8.9 percent – the lowest since 2009. But, the tenth of a percent change is not to be confused with any real job creation, warns UCubed Acting Executive Director Rick Sloan.
“Only 192,000 new jobs were created last month,” said Sloan. “The BLS report of 8.9 percent unemployment is a far cry from the real – nearly 18 percent – unemployment rate. There are still millions more underemployed Americans.
“When you’re out of work for weeks, months and in many cases years, the only number you care about is ONE: yourself. The jobless want to go back to work. Our nation’s leaders must focus less on taking away jobs and more on creating them.”
Here are some facts about the real unemployment rate:
Official unemployment only counts for 48% of the total unemployed
7 million workers are not counted as “officially unemployed,” including discouraged workers and those who have been out of work for 99 weeks
4 million workers haven’t searched for a job because there are no jobs available to them
There are 8 million underemployed workers unable to find full-time work
Let’s help these folks out. Head over to UCubed’s Facebook page and sign up today!
