NEWS: U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rise to 398,000 on Katrina Filings

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina US unemployment has jumped to a ten year high. The US labor department said the 71,000 people signed for benifits last week and that 68,000 of those had been directly affected by Katrina. The increase in benefit handouts due to Katrina is more than was seen in the US after 9/11.



The fact that more people are claming now than after 9/11 shows the severity of life after Katrina.

With spending already being stretched to cope in Iraq and Afghanistan this will have a massive impact on the US and the damage will be seen for years to come!

[edit on 15/9/2005 by MickeyDee]

[edit on 15/9/2005 by MickeyDee]

[edit on 15/9/2005 by MickeyDee]

[edit on 15/9/2005 by MickeyDee]

It was the biggest weekly jump in new unemployment claims in 10 years, not the highest unemployment rate in 10 years.

[edit on 9/15/2005 by djohnsto77]

I know the title could be better...any suggestion dj?

Mic

Those of us who lived through the unemploment rates in the late 70s early 80s these rates are nothing to worry about. Asz soon as the rebuilding starts it will drop dramaticaly

[edit on 15-9-2005 by Amuk]

Well, we are experiencing the highest long-term unemployment numbers in history, aren't we dj?

You're not going to nitpick statistics and play them your way, when the facts clearly give the picture of bunches of people out of work, are you?

Jobless numbers aren't even half the picture. There are millions of people out of work who are subject to one of the following conditions.

1. Benefits expired or were not renewed
2. Benefits never applied for whatever reason
3. Benefits denied for whatever reason

The jobless numbers don't even do justice to the enormous problem this country is facing.

The town I live in is a good microcosm of what's happening everywhere. This used to be a factory/lumber/mining town back in the good old days. The jobs dried up or were sent to Asia, and now all that's left is people and service jobs. The town is desperately struggling to reinvent itsellf as a tourist destination, but in the long-term this strategy is bound to fail.

You can't have a country made up entirely of service jobs, because people working in the industry can't afford to spend money at similar businesses. There's no support for this kind of economy.

We've lost a great portion of the manufacturing base that was so depended upon for living wages.

Now you need three jobs to feed a family, if you live in a town like mine. Some folks still have office jobs, but the bell has tolled for them too. Much cheaper in midwest office parks and overseas than in small towns scattered across the country.

My block, where I live, now has 3 EMPLOYED PEOPLE TOTAL, out of 11 households. It's the same everywhere else around here. Everyone lives off government checks, retirement, or odd jobs. This used to be a vibrant town with three times the current population and something like 20k additional jobs, between the mills, the mines, and the few assembly plants scattered around the hills, mostly electrical parts.

The resources are still viable, the people are still willing to work, but the companies owe it to their shareholders to seek the highest profit possible, and this leads them away from the town that supported them for decades.

It's an entirely unavoidable state of affairs, given this country's current tack.

I still don't think it should be taken lying down. Stop giving all the damn money to the petroleum interests, airlines, and holding companies. They need the subsidies like a bear needs a jacket.

The U.S. unemployment rate stood at 4.9% in August which is very low historically, really overemployed, possible of causing labor shortages...this figure doesn't just include people on unemployment compensation, but everyone who is actively looking for employment whether or not their government unemployment checks have run out.

Hmmm. Good thing Bush killed the minimum wage requirements. That'll kick start the economy and lead to jobs. 'Course people will need 5 or 6 jobs to pay the rent, not just 4 - but hey, they'll be lucky to get the work. Right?



Proclamation by the President: 1931 Davis-Bacon Act Suspended

"...the White House was working yesterday to suspend wage supports for service workers in the hurricane zone as it did for construction workers on federal contracts last week"

Average CEO Now Receives 431 Times the Average Worker's Wage


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Actively looking for work is fine and all, but it don't mean diddley if there aren't any jobs.

This article is a couple years old, but the situation has only gotten worse.
www.epinet.org...

Then you see numbers like this, claiming that 375k workers become ineigible in a month's time, that adds up quickly.
www.wsws.org...

From this perspective, the problem is twice as bad now as it was in the 80's.
www.nelp.org...

Whenever I hear positive notes on the economy, I take it in the larger context, along with personal experience. The larger context, and my personal experience, leads me to believe the economy is in a tailspin, suffering from the excesses and selfishness of the rich and poor alike.

The average is extremely low. Speaking of this country's history of the last few decades, these are very good numbers. Speaking of most of the world, currently and recent history, our average is great.

Another thing, the jobless rate has got to be a myth. Every one of us must be employed! How do I figure this? Because illegal immigrants come across the border, almost unimpeded, and they find jobs and send millions of dollars a year out of this country. This could only be happening if there were more jobs than workers!

Meh, I spent 4 years going to college for my company only to be laid off 8 months after I graduated. I've yet to find a job suitable to make up for the time I spent in college. I went from making $16/hr to $8/hr.

Regardless if people are unemployed or not, the wage is a huge factor. How am I supposed to support my family and pay my bills on $8/hr? I can't. It's impossible.

Sure, I'll keep looking.. flouting my padded resume everywhere I can.. But then comes the problem of relocating.. and that's next to impossible on $230/wk




[edit on 9/15/2005 by QuietSoul]

ThomasCrowne

...the jobless rate has got to be a myth. ...Because illegal immigrants come across the border, almost unimpeded, and they find jobs and send millions of dollars a year out of this country. This could only be happening if there were more jobs than workers!

Aside from the issue of location - I take it you're saying that Americans should accept the wages, conditions, and abuses that illegal immigrants must tolerate? ...because of course, immigrants are badly abused, grossly underpayed, and frequently, exposed to high levels of chemicals and other known pathogens.

People should know their place, and accept their lot in life? It's economic natural selection? Time to get back to the feudal system, maybe?

...Not quite sure what your point is? I'm floundering here.

You've been listening to the propaganda again. The Illegals aren't simply picking tomatos in the blazing sun for pennies. They are doing things the establishment don't want you to know about.

Should Americans "accept" lower-paying jobs? What, are you saying that you or someone else is better than me? Are you suggesting that I was born with a decent paying job with good benefits? I'm certainly not suggesting that anyone take a low-paying job and stay at it, either. There's nothing that says one has to stay there. There is one thing that has been proven true over and over, and that is it is easier to get a job when you have a job.

Have we forgotten that you don't have to have a job? It is perfectly ok for one to have a business.

I will say this, though; when we've gotten to the point where the jobless claim they can't find a job, yet people come from another country and cross several states to work at the chicken processing plants, go cart manufacturing places and the likes around my immediate area and send a boatload of money back across the border and thereby draining our economy, something is wrong.

Why is it that the government does nothing but woindow-dress when it comes to stopping this blood-leting? Because the businesses profit from using illegal immigrants, and this is getting us more open-minded to open borders