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Lombardi Publishing Corporation (www.LombardiPublishing.com), a 28-year-old consumer publisher that has served over one million customers in 141 countries, is announcing that the current unemployment rate does not accurately reflect the true picture of the U.S. economic recovery.“According to Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, more jobs have now been created in the recovery than were lost in the downturn. The unemployment rate, at 6.1% in August, has declined roughly four percentage points from its peak in late 2009,” says economist and lead contributor Michael Lombardi. “On the surface, that sounds good, but when you take a closer look at the numbers, the job market paints a very different picture as to what is going on in this country.” (Source: Yellen, J.L., “Labor Market Dynamics and Monetary Policy,” Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System web site, August 22, 2014; www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/yellen20140822a.htm.)
Prior to the Great Recession, in January of 2007, there were 4.27 million Americans working part-time because they were unable to find full-time work. In July of this year, the number of Americans working part-time because they couldn’t find full-time work was 70% higher, at 7.27 million. (Source: “Employment Level - Part-Time for Economic Reasons, All Industries,” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis web site; http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/LNS12032194, last accessed September 11, 2014.)
Lombardi Financial explains that the so-called boom in the jobs market is a result of increased part-time work. Unfortunately, the jobs market misery doesn’t end there. In January of 2007, the average duration of unemployment in the U.S. was 16.3 weeks, and in August of 2014, this number stood at 31.7 weeks. Once unemployed, people today are taking over seven months to find another job—almost double the time it took to find a job before the Great Recession. (Source: “Average (Mean) Duration of Unemployment,” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis web site; http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/UEMPMEAN, last accessed September 11, 2014.)
On top of that, the “official” government unemployment numbers exclude those people who have given up looking for work. The real unemployment rate (referred to as the underemployment rate), which includes those who have given up looking for work and those who have part-time jobs because they can’t find full-time jobs, stands at over 12%—and has for six years. (Source: “Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons,” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis web site; last accessed September 11, 2014.)
“Adding to the problems of the U.S. jobs market, to keep profits rising because revenues are stagnant, big American companies continue to take an axe to their payrolls,” Lombardi concludes. “Is the recovery in the jobs market a mirage? The jobs data certainly suggests the idea of growth is more than a little far-fetched.”
Founded in 1986, Lombardi Publishing Corporation, which has served over one million customers in 141 countries, is one of the largest consumer information publishers in the world. For more information on Lombardi Publishing Corporation, visit www.LombardiPublishing.com.
Contact Info:
Name: Wendy Potter
Email: Send Email
Organization: Lombardi Publishing Corporation
Address: 350 5th Avenue, 59th Floor, New York, NY 10118
Phone: 905 856 2022
Website: http://www.lombardipublishing.com/
Release ID: 63095
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