Santa Obama’s $9 minimum wage: good propaganda, bad economics
By Raymond Thomas Pronk
Presidential economic policies like the proverbial “road to hell” are often paved with good intentions.
In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said:
“Even with the tax relief we’ve put in place, a family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line. That’s wrong. Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full time should have to live in poverty and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour. This single step would raise the incomes of millions of working families. It could mean the difference between groceries or the food bank; rent or eviction; scraping by or finally getting ahead. For businesses across the country, it would mean customers with more money in their pockets.”
Why not increase the minimum wage to $18 per hour and win America’s war on poverty?
What are the economic consequences or impact of a $9 minimum wage on young high school and college students seeking employment? A decidedly negative impact if economic history is any guide.
The large increase in teenage unemployment is partly driven by the increase in the minimum wage. When the minimum wage rate was increased in July 2008 from $5.85 to $6.55 there was an upward spike in the teenage unemployment rate to greater than 20 percent. When the minimum wage was again increased in July 2009 from $6.55 to its current rate of $7.25, there was another upward spike in the teenage unemployment rate to greater than 25 percent. This rising trend of upward spikes in teenage unemployment rates after an increase in the minimum wage is reflected in the following chart.
Unemployment rate or percent of 16-19 years from 1948 to present
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor
David Neumark, professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine and William L. Wascher, deputy director in the Division of Research and Statistics at the Federal Reserve Board, in their book, “Minimum Wages,” provide a comprehensive review of the evidence on the economic effects of minimum wage laws. They concluded that such laws reduce employment opportunities for less-skilled workers, tend to reduce their earnings and are not very effective in reducing poverty.
If Congress passes an increase in the minimum wage to $9 as proposed by Obama, young, inexperienced, low-skill workers, especially blacks and Hispanics, will again be hurt for they will not be hired by businesses who cannot afford to pay them the higher mandated minimum wage. This will be reflected in yet another spike upward in the teenage unemployment rate that might exceed 30 percent.
Furthermore, young American citizens, especially blacks and Hispanics, will face stiff competition from the more than 11 million illegal aliens who predominantly seek low-skilled jobs. Obama and progressives in both the Democratic and Republican parties want to grant these illegal aliens immediate legal status to work in the U.S.
Obama is repeating the past economic policy mistakes of progressive presidents from both political parties such as Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, Johnson, Nixon, Carter and the Bushes in mandating higher than free market wage rates. These well-intentioned but massive government interventionist economic policies lead to prolonged depressions and recessions with high unemployment rates, especially for young, inexperienced, low skilled and minority workers.
Thirty years ago the black economist, Walter E. Williams, explored the effects of federal and state government intervention into the economy, including minimum wage laws, in the PBS documentary, Good Intentions, based upon his 1982 book, “The State Against Blacks.” Those favoring a rise in the federal minimum wage would be well advised to view this video together with “Milton Friedman on the Minimum Wage” on YouTube before advocating an increase in the minimum wage.
For young American citizens an entry-level job paying a lower competitive market wage rate is preferable to no job at a higher government mandated minimum wage.
Good intentions are not enough. Results measured in jobs created count.
Raymond Thomas Pronk is host of the Pronk Pops Show on KDUX web radio from 3-5 p.m. Fridays and author of the companion blog http://www.pronkpops.wordpress.com/
Digital Age-Why is Coolidge the Forgotten President?-Amity Shlaes
Sumner’s Explanation of The Forgotten Man – Revised for the 21st Century
Sumner’s Explanation of The Forgotten Man – Revised for the 21st
Century
By Joshua Lyons 9/25/09
As soon as A observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose to get a law passed – with the praise of Y – to remedy the evil and help X.
Their law always proposes to determine what C shall do for X or, in the better case, what A, B and C shall do for X.
As for A and B, who get a law to make themselves do for X what they are willing to do for him, we have nothing to say except that they might better have done it without any law, but C is forced to comply with the new law.
All this is done while Y looks on with glee and proclaims that A and B are so good for helping poor X.
A is the politician B is the humanitarian, special interest, do-gooder, reformer, social speculator, etc. C is The Forgotten Man (i.e. you, me, us) X is the downtrodden, the oppressed, the little guy, the misunderstood, etc. Y is the Mainstream Media
In other words…
As soon as THE POLITICIAN observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from which THE DOWNTRODDEN is suffering, THE POLITICIAN talks it over with THE HUMANITARIAN, and THE POLITICIAN and THE HUMANITARIAN then propose to get a law passed – with the praise of THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA – to remedy the evil and help THE DOWNTRODDEN.
Their law always proposes to determine what THE FORGOTTEN MAN shall do for THE DOWNTRODDEN or, in the
better case, what THE POLITICIAN, THE HUMANITARIAN and THE FORGOTTEN MAN shall do for THE DOWNTRODDEN.
As for THE POLITICIAN and THE HUMANITARIAN, who get a law to make themselves do for THE DOWNTRODDEN what they are willing to do for him, we have
nothing to say except that they might better have done it without any law, but THE FORGOTTEN MAN is forced to comply with the new law.
All this is done while THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA looks on with glee and proclaims that THE POLITICIAN and THE HUMANITARIAN are so good for helping poor THE DOWNTRODDEN.
The preceding commentary was based on William Graham Sumner’s explanation of The Forgotten Man.
Obama: “Raise Minimum Wage to $9 an Hour” – SOTU 2013
More on Minimum Wage
Obama’s $9/Hour SOTU Minimum Wage
Milton Friedman on Minimum Wage
Power of the Market – Minimum Wage
Williams with Sowell – Minimum Wage
The Job-Killing Impact of Minimum Wage Laws
“Good Intentions” by Dr. Walter Williams
Dr. Walter Williams’ 1982 PBS documentary “Good Intentions” based on his book, “The State Against Blacks”. The documentary was very controversial at the time it was released and led to many animosities and even threats of murder.
In “Good Intentions”, Dr. Williams examines the failure of the war on poverty and the devastating effect of well meaning government policies on blacks asserting that the state harms people in the U.S. more than it helps them. He shows how government anti-poverty programs have often locked people into poverty making the points that:
- being forced to attend 3rd rate public schools leave students unprepared for working life
- minimum wages prevent young people from obtaining jobs at an early age
- licensing and labor laws have had the effect of restricting entrance of blacks into the skilled trades and unions
- the welfare system creates perverse incentives for the poor to make bad choices they otherwise would not
Dr. Williams presents the following solutions to these problems:
Failing Public Schools – Give parents greater control over their children’s education by setting up a tuition tax credit or voucher system to broaden competition in turn revitalizing both public and non-public schools
Minimum Wages – Remove the minimum wage from youngsters to give more young people the chance to learn the world of work at an early age instead spending their free time idle an possibly falling into the habits of the street
Restrictive Labor Laws, Jobs Programs – Eliminate government roadblocks that prevent new entrepreneurs from starting their own business
Welfare Programs – Enact a compassionate welfare system such as a negative income tax which would remove dependency and dis-incentives for the poor to get themselves out of poverty
Scholars interviewed in the documentary include Donald Eberle, Charles Murray, and George Gilder.
Good Intentions 1 of 3 Introduction and Public Schools with Walter Williams
Good Intentions 2 of 3 Minimum Wage, Licensing, and Labor Laws with Walter
Good Intentions 3 of 3 The Welfare System and Conclusions with Walter Williams
Government Intervention and Individual Freedom | Walter Williams
Obama: “Time to Pass Immigration Reform” – State of the Union 2013
Contrasting Views of the Great Depression | Robert P. Murphy
Why You’ve Never Heard of the Great Depression of 1920 | Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
Uncommon Knowledge: The Great Depression with Amity Shlaes
Calvin Coolidge: The Best President You’ve Never Heard Of – Amity Shlaes
Amity Shlaes, Author, “Coolidge”
Keep Cool With Coolidge, Not Obama: Obama Reveals His True Hatred of Business
Series Id: LNS14000012
Seasonally Adjusted Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate – 16-19 yrs. Labor force status: Unemployment rate Type of data: Percent or rate Age: 16 to 19 years
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
2000
12.7
13.8
13.3
12.6
12.8
12.3
13.4
14.0
13.0
12.8
13.0
13.2
2001
13.8
13.7
13.8
13.9
13.4
14.2
14.4
15.6
15.2
16.0
15.9
17.0
2002
16.5
16.0
16.6
16.7
16.6
16.7
16.8
17.0
16.3
15.1
17.1
16.9
2003
17.2
17.2
17.8
17.7
17.9
19.0
18.2
16.6
17.6
17.2
15.7
16.2
2004
17.0
16.5
16.8
16.6
17.1
17.0
17.8
16.7
16.6
17.4
16.4
17.6
2005
16.2
17.5
17.1
17.8
17.8
16.3
16.1
16.1
15.5
16.1
17.0
14.9
2006
15.2
15.3
16.1
14.6
14.0
15.7
15.9
16.1
16.3
15.2
14.9
14.7
2007
14.8
14.9
14.9
15.6
15.9
16.2
15.3
16.0
16.0
15.5
16.2
16.9
2008
17.8
16.5
16.0
15.6
18.9
19.0
20.8
18.9
19.3
20.3
20.3
20.8
2009
20.9
21.8
22.0
21.8
23.2
24.3
24.5
25.7
26.1
27.6
26.8
27.1
2010
26.4
25.0
26.1
25.4
26.4
25.7
26.1
26.3
Series Id: LNS14000006
Seasonally Adjusted Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate – Black or African American Labor force status: Unemployment rate Type of data: Percent or rate Age: 16 years and over Race: Black or African American
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
2000
8.2
8.1
7.4
7.0
7.7
7.8
7.7
7.9
7.3
7.3
7.3
7.4
2001
8.2
7.7
8.3
8.0
7.9
8.3
8.0
9.1
8.9
9.5
9.8
10.1
2002
10.0
9.9
10.5
10.7
10.2
10.5
9.8
9.8
9.7
9.8
10.7
11.3
2003
10.5
10.7
10.3
10.9
10.9
11.5
10.9
10.9
11.1
11.4
10.2
10.1
2004
10.4
9.7
10.3
9.8
10.1
10.2
11.0
10.5
10.3
10.8
10.7
10.7
2005
10.6
10.9
10.5
10.3
10.1
10.2
9.2
9.7
9.4
9.1
10.6
9.2
2006
8.9
9.4
9.5
9.4
8.7
8.8
9.5
8.8
9.0
8.5
8.6
8.3
2007
8.0
8.0
8.3
8.3
8.3
8.4
8.0
7.7
8.1
8.5
8.5
9.0
2008
9.2
8.3
9.1
8.6
9.6
9.4
9.9
10.8
11.4
11.3
11.5
12.1
2009
12.8
13.5
13.5
15.0
15.0
14.8
14.7
15.2
15.5
15.7
15.6
16.2
2010
16.5
15.8
16.5
16.5
15.5
15.4
15.6
16.3
Series Id: LNS13023569
Seasonally Adjusted Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Level – New Entrants Labor force status: Unemployed Type of data: Number in thousands Age: 16 years and over Unemployed entrant status: New entrants
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
2000
394
420
429
406
466
427
433
499
415
402
419
490
2001
444
396
378
457
468
467
448
485
473
481
495
515
2002
484
507
538
527
497
549
545
612
536
479
591
535
2003
599
584
630
635
630
661
669
652
686
636
593
693
2004
676
666
631
652
718
649
702
704
695
734
700
702
2005
621
753
712
764
710
650
630
626
607
638
673
633
2006
618
710
635
590
522
644
638
647
612
573
583
588
2007
628
599
614
621
536
634
599
590
668
700
661
688
2008
685
660
705
631
807
771
829
826
811
826
735
820
2009
792
1016
881
919
977
969
994
1096
1134
1114
1270
1270
2010
1235
1238
1197
1231
1206
1140
1188
1259
Power of the Market – Minimum Wage
Good Intentions 2of3 Minimum Wage, Licensing, and Labor Laws with Walter Williams
Good Intentions 2of3 Minimum Wage, Licensing, and Labor Laws with Walter Williams
Good Intentions 3of3 The Welfare System and Conclusions with Walter Williams
Obama & Minimum Wage — Part 1
Obama & Minimum Wage — Part 2
Milton Friedman on Minimum Wage
`Peter Schiff: Capitalism 101 Minimum Wage
The news television stations were all announcing that the the official unemployment rate or U-3 for December 2009 remained unchanged from November 2009 at 10.0%.
Few mentioned that this represents over 15.3 million Americans seeking a full time job more than during the worse month of the Great Depression in March 1933 when over 13 million Americans were seeking full time jobs.
Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey
Series Id: LNS14000000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate
Labor force status: Unemployment rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
1999
4.3
4.4
4.2
4.3
4.2
4.3
4.3
4.2
4.2
4.1
4.1
4.0
2000
4.0
4.1
4.0
3.8
4.0
4.0
4.0
4.1
3.9
3.9
3.9
3.9
2001
4.2
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.3
4.5
4.6
4.9
5.0
5.3
5.5
5.7
2002
5.7
5.7
5.7
5.9
5.8
5.8
5.8
5.7
5.7
5.7
5.9
6.0
2003
5.8
5.9
5.9
6.0
6.1
6.3
6.2
6.1
6.1
6.0
5.8
5.7
2004
5.7
5.6
5.8
5.6
5.6
5.6
5.5
5.4
5.4
5.5
5.4
5.4
2005
5.3
5.4
5.2
5.2
5.1
5.0
5.0
4.9
5.0
5.0
5.0
4.9
2006
4.7
4.8
4.7
4.7
4.6
4.6
4.7
4.7
4.5
4.4
4.5
4.4
2007
4.6
4.5
4.4
4.5
4.4
4.6
4.6
4.6
4.7
4.7
4.7
5.0
2008
5.0
4.8
5.1
5.0
5.4
5.5
5.8
6.1
6.2
6.6
6.9
7.4
2009
7.7
8.2
8.6
8.9
9.4
9.5
9.4
9.7
9.8
10.1
10.0
10.0
Series Id: LNS13000000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Level
Labor force status: Unemployed
Type of data: Number in thousands
Age: 16 years and over
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
1999
5976
6111
5783
6004
5796
5951
6025
5838
5915
5778
5716
5653
2000
5708
5858
5733
5481
5758
5651
5747
5853
5625
5534
5639
5634
2001
6023
6089
6141
6271
6226
6484
6583
7042
7142
7694
8003
8258
2002
8182
8215
8304
8599
8399
8393
8390
8304
8251
8307
8520
8640
2003
8520
8618
8588
8842
8957
9266
9011
8896
8921
8732
8576
8317
2004
8370
8167
8491
8170
8212
8286
8136
7990
7927
8061
7932
7934
2005
7784
7980
7737
7672
7651
7524
7406
7345
7553
7453
7566
7279
2006
7059
7185
7075
7122
6977
6998
7154
7097
6853
6728
6883
6784
2007
7085
6898
6725
6845
6765
6966
7113
7096
7200
7273
7284
7696
2008
7628
7435
7793
7631
8397
8560
8895
9509
9569
10172
10617
11400
2009
11919
12714
13310
13816
14518
14721
14534
14993
15159
15612
15340
15267
Series Id: LNS13327709
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (seas) Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers
Labor force status: Aggregated totals unemployed
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over
Percent/rates: Unemployed and mrg attached and pt for econ reas as percent of labor force plus marg attached
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
1999
7.7
7.7
7.6
7.6
7.4
7.5
7.5
7.3
7.4
7.2
7.1
7.1
2000
7.1
7.2
7.1
6.9
7.1
7.0
7.0
7.1
7.0
6.8
7.1
6.9
2001
7.3
7.4
7.3
7.4
7.5
7.9
7.8
8.1
8.7
9.3
9.4
9.6
2002
9.5
9.5
9.4
9.7
9.5
9.5
9.6
9.6
9.6
9.6
9.7
9.8
2003
10.0
10.2
10.0
10.2
10.1
10.3
10.3
10.1
10.4
10.2
10.0
9.8
2004
9.9
9.7
10.0
9.6
9.6
9.5
9.5
9.4
9.4
9.7
9.4
9.2
2005
9.3
9.3
9.1
8.9
8.9
9.0
8.8
8.9
9.0
8.7
8.7
8.6
2006
8.4
8.4
8.2
8.1
8.2
8.4
8.5
8.4
8.0
8.2
8.1
8.0
2007
8.3
8.1
8.0
8.2
8.2
8.2
8.3
8.5
8.4
8.4
8.5
8.8
2008
9.1
8.9
9.0
9.2
9.7
10.0
10.5
10.9
11.2
11.9
12.8
13.7
2009
14.0
15.0
15.6
15.8
16.4
16.5
16.4
16.8
17.0
17.4
17.2
17.3
The real unemployment rate or U-6 actually increased slightly in December 2009 to 17.3%.
The rate of 17.3% multiplied by the number of workers in the civilian work force, 153,059,000, means that over 26 million Americans were seeking full time jobs.
This is more than double the number of unemployed Americans seeking full time jobs during the worse month of the Great Depression, March, 1933!
The civilian labor force was also reduced from 153,720,000 in November 2009 to 153,059,000.
This means that over 661,000 Americans left the labor force in just one month!
In December 2008 the civilian labor force was 154,587,000 compared with 153,059,000 in December 2009.
In just one year over 1,528,000 Americans have left the civilian labor force.
Did they really leave the civilian labor force?
While the civilian labor force does fluctuate from month to month as people enter and leave the civilian for various reasons, I suspect that progressive radical socialists at the Department of Labor and the White House have been manupulating the data to keep the unemployment rate down.
I strongly suspect that at least half of the reduction in the labor force is due to such political manipulation to get the official unemployment rate down or even decrease it.
This is especially true if President Obama has an event or speech where he wants to show progress in the employment situation.
The unemployment rates for teenagers, blacks and hispanics all significantly rose in December 2010.
Obamacare Punishes the Young
For teenagers age 16 through 19 the unemployment rate in December 2008 was 20.8% compared with the December 2009 unemployment rate of 27.2%.
For blacks the unemployment rate in December 2008 was 12.1% compared with the December 2009 unemployment rate of 16.2%.
For hispanics the unemployoment rate in December 2008 was 9.4% compared with the December 2009 unemployment rate of 12.9%.
Series Id: LNS14000012
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate - 16-19 yrs.
Labor force status: Unemployment rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 to 19 years
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
1999
15.2
13.9
14.2
14.2
13.3
13.9
13.4
13.3
14.8
13.8
13.9
13.4
2000
12.7
13.8
13.3
12.6
12.8
12.3
13.4
14.0
13.0
12.8
13.0
13.2
2001
13.8
13.7
13.8
13.9
13.4
14.2
14.4
15.6
15.2
16.0
15.9
17.0
2002
16.5
16.0
16.6
16.7
16.6
16.7
16.8
17.0
16.3
15.1
17.1
16.9
2003
17.2
17.2
17.8
17.7
17.9
19.0
18.2
16.6
17.6
17.2
15.7
16.2
2004
17.0
16.5
16.8
16.6
17.1
17.0
17.8
16.7
16.6
17.4
16.4
17.6
2005
16.2
17.5
17.1
17.8
17.8
16.3
16.1
16.1
15.5
16.1
17.0
14.9
2006
15.2
15.3
16.1
14.6
14.0
15.7
15.9
16.1
16.3
15.2
14.9
14.7
2007
14.8
14.9
14.9
15.6
15.9
16.2
15.3
16.0
16.0
15.5
16.2
16.9
2008
17.8
16.5
16.0
15.6
18.9
19.0
20.8
18.9
19.3
20.3
20.3
20.8
2009
20.9
21.8
22.0
21.8
23.2
24.3
24.5
25.7
26.1
27.6
26.8
27.1
Series Id: LNS14000006
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate - Black or African American
Labor force status: Unemployment rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over
Race: Black or African American
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
1999
7.8
8.2
8.0
7.8
7.4
7.7
8.7
7.7
8.5
8.4
8.0
7.8
2000
8.2
8.1
7.4
7.0
7.7
7.8
7.7
7.9
7.3
7.3
7.3
7.4
2001
8.2
7.7
8.3
8.0
7.9
8.3
8.0
9.1
8.9
9.5
9.8
10.1
2002
10.0
9.9
10.5
10.7
10.2
10.5
9.8
9.8
9.7
9.8
10.7
11.3
2003
10.5
10.7
10.3
10.9
10.9
11.5
10.9
10.9
11.1
11.4
10.2
10.1
2004
10.4
9.7
10.3
9.8
10.1
10.2
11.0
10.5
10.3
10.8
10.7
10.7
2005
10.6
10.9
10.5
10.3
10.1
10.2
9.2
9.7
9.4
9.1
10.6
9.2
2006
8.9
9.4
9.5
9.4
8.7
8.8
9.5
8.8
9.0
8.5
8.6
8.3
2007
8.0
8.0
8.3
8.3
8.3
8.4
8.0
7.7
8.1
8.5
8.5
9.0
2008
9.2
8.3
9.1
8.6
9.6
9.4
9.9
10.8
11.4
11.3
11.5
12.1
2009
12.8
13.5
13.5
15.0
15.0
14.8
14.7
15.2
15.5
15.7
15.6
16.2
Series Id: LNS14000009
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title: (Seas) Unemployment Rate - Hispanic or Latino
Labor force status: Unemployment rate
Type of data: Percent or rate
Age: 16 years and over
Ethnic origin: Hispanic or Latino
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Annual
1999
6.7
6.7
5.8
7.0
6.7
6.6
6.5
6.5
6.7
6.4
6.0
5.8
2000
5.6
5.7
6.1
5.5
5.8
5.6
5.8
5.9
5.8
5.1
6.0
5.7
2001
5.8
6.1
6.2
6.4
6.3
6.6
6.2
6.5
6.7
7.1
7.3
7.7
2002
7.8
7.0
7.5
8.0
7.1
7.4
7.4
7.5
7.4
7.9
7.8
7.9
2003
7.9
7.6
7.8
7.6
8.1
8.4
8.1
7.7
7.3
7.4
7.5
6.6
2004
7.4
7.4
7.5
7.1
7.0
6.6
6.9
6.8
6.9
6.7
6.7
6.5
2005
6.2
6.4
5.8
6.4
5.9
5.7
5.5
5.8
6.5
5.9
6.2
6.1
2006
5.7
5.5
5.2
5.3
4.9
5.2
5.2
5.3
5.5
4.7
5.1
5.0
2007
5.7
5.2
5.1
5.4
5.8
5.6
5.9
5.5
5.8
5.6
5.8
6.3
2008
6.4
6.2
6.9
6.9
6.9
7.7
7.5
8.0
8.0
8.9
8.8
9.4
2009
9.9
11.0
11.6
11.4
12.7
12.3
12.4
13.0
12.7
13.1
12.7
12.9
Government intervention in the free market economy is resulting in massive unemployment of the American people.
The free market has not failed, the Federal Government led by President Obama and the Progressive Radical Socialists in Congress and the Senate have failed the American people.
The young, blacks and hispanics are slow waking up to the fact that Obama and the Progressive Radical Socialists could care less that they are unemployed.
President Obama is what Bill Gates would call a dilettante when it comes to economic policy.
Actually he is just an incompetent progressive radical socialist.
President Obama’s green jobs nonsense reminds me of Roosevelt’s TVA and will have the same economic results.
Both Presidents were clueless as to economics and job creation and were notorious habitual liars.
MAJOR REDUCTIONS IN CARBON EMISSIONS ARE NOT WORTH THE MONEY DEBATE: PETER HUBER
The American people are slowly but surely turning him off and no longer trust or believe a word President Obama says.
Join the Second American to stop Progressive Radical Socialists and their government interventionist economic pollicies that destroy jobs, wreck the economy and turn the American Dream into a nightmare.
The great Thomas Sowell talks about Obama-nomics
Thomas Sowell – Obama’s Vision
Background Articles and Videos
Keynesian Economics Is Wrong: Bigger Gov’t Is Not Stimulus
Eight Reasons Why Big Government Hurts Economic Growth
Economy loses 85K jobs as employers remain wary
Employers cut more jobs than expected in December, unemployment rate holds at 10 percent
By Christopher S. Rugaber, AP Economics Writer , On Friday January 8, 2010, 12:50 pm
“…Lack of confidence in the economic recovery led employers to shed a more-than-expected 85,000 net jobs in December even as the unemployment rate held at 10 percent. The rate would have been higher if more people had been looking for work instead of leaving the labor force because they can’t find jobs.
The sharp drop in the work force — 661,000 fewer people — showed that more of the jobless are giving up. Once people stop looking for jobs, they’re no longer counted among the unemployed.
When discouraged workers and part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs are included, the so-called “underemployment” rate in December rose to 17.3 percent, from 17.2 percent in November. That’s just below a revised figure of 17.4 percent in October, the highest on records dating from 1994. …”
Transmission of material in this release is embargoed USDL-09-1583
until 8:30 a.m. (EST) Friday, January 8, 2010
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 -- DECEMBER 2009
Nonfarm payroll employment edged down (-85,000) in December, and the unem-
ployment rate was unchanged at 10.0 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics reported today. Employment fell in construction, manufacturing, and
wholesale trade, while temporary help services and health care added jobs.
Household Survey Data
In December, both the number of unemployed persons, at 15.3 million, and the
unemployment rate, at 10.0 percent, were unchanged. At the start of the re-
cession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons was 7.7 million,
and the unemployment rate was 5.0 percent. (See table A-1.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
| |
| Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data |
| |
|Seasonally adjusted household survey data have been revised using up- |
|dated seasonal adjustment factors, a procedure done at the end of each|
|calendar year. Seasonally adjusted estimates back to January 2005 were|
|subject to revision. The unemployment rates for January 2009 through |
|November 2009 (as originally published and as revised) appear in |
|table B, along with additional information about the revisions. |
| |
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Unemployment rates for the major worker groups--adult men (10.2 percent),
adult women (8.2 percent), teenagers (27.1 percent), whites (9.0 percent),
blacks (16.2 percent), and Hispanics (12.9 percent)--showed little change in
December. The unemployment rate for Asians was 8.4 percent, not seasonally
adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)
Among the unemployed, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27
weeks and over) continued to trend up, reaching 6.1 million. In December, 4 in
10 unemployed workers were jobless for 27 weeks or longer. (See table A-9.)
The civilian labor force participation rate fell to 64.6 percent in December.
The employment-population ratio declined to 58.2 percent. (See table A-1.)
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes re-
ferred to as involuntary part-time workers) was about unchanged at 9.2 million
in December and has been relatively flat since March. These individuals were
working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were
unable to find a full-time job. (See table A-5.)
About 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in
December, an increase of 578,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not sea-
sonally 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-13.)
Among the marginally attached, there were 929,000 discouraged workers in
December, up from 642,000 a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally ad-
justed.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work be-
cause they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.6 million
persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in
the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or
family responsibilities.
Establishment Survey Data
Total nonfarm payroll employment edged down in December (-85,000). Job losses
continued in construction, manufacturing, and wholesale trade, while temporary
help services and health care continued to add jobs. During 2009, monthly job
losses moderated substantially. Employment losses in the first quarter of 2009
averaged 691,000 per month, compared with an average loss of 69,000 per month
in the fourth quarter. (See table B-1.)
Construction employment declined by 53,000 in December, with job losses
throughout the industry. Employment in construction has fallen by 1.6 mil-
lion since the recession began.
In December, employment in manufacturing decreased by 27,000. The average
monthly decline for the last 6 months of 2009 (-41,000) was much lower than
the average monthly decline for the first half of the year (-171,000). Since
the recession began, manufacturing employment has fallen by 2.1 million; three-
fourths of this drop occurred in the durable goods component (-1.6 million).
Wholesale trade employment declined by 18,000 in December, with the majority of
the decline occurring among durable goods wholesalers. Employment in retail
trade was little changed over the month, although general merchandise stores
lost 15,000 jobs.
Temporary help services added 47,000 jobs in December. Since reaching a low
point in July, temporary help services employment has risen by 166,000.
Health care employment continued to increase in December (22,000), with notable
gains in offices of physicians (9,000) and home health care services (8,000).
The health care industry has added 631,000 jobs since the recession began.
In December, the average workweek for production and nonsupervisory workers on
private nonfarm payrolls was unchanged at 33.2 hours. The manufacturing work-
week, at 40.4 hours, and factory overtime, at 3.4 hours, were unchanged over
the month. Since May, the manufacturing workweek has increased by 1.0 hour.
(See table B-2.)
In December, average hourly earnings of production and nonsupervisory workers
on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 3 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $18.80. Over
the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 2.2 percent, while
average weekly earnings have risen by 1.9 percent. (See table B-3.)
The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for October was revised from
-111,000 to -127,000, and the change for November was revised from -11,000 to
+4,000.
_____________
The Employment Situation for January is scheduled to be released on Friday,
February 5, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. (EST).
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm
Milton Friedman & Walter Williams On Workers Rights 1/3
Milton Friedman & Walter Williams On Workers Rights 2/3
Milton Friedman & Walter Williams On Workers Rights 3/3
Good Intentions 1 of 3 Introduction and Public Schools with Walter Williams
