The economic analyses done by Mort Zuckerman at US News are always laden with cold facts.
Read the article for the prose. Here are the factoids:
- Annual wage increases have dropped to an average of 1.6 percent, the lowest in the past 30 years.
- A Census Bureau analysis indicates that median income in 2011 had fallen to $50,054, the fourth straight year of decline.
- Layoff announcements have risen from a year ago and hiring plans have dropped dramatically.
- 5 million people have now been out of work for 27 weeks or more. That’s roughly 40 percent of the unemployed.
- The average period of unemployment is close to 40 weeks.
- Fewer Americans are at work today than in April 2000, even though the population has grown by 30 million people since then.
- Older people are not leaving the workforce at the same rate as in the past … employment in the age group of 55 and older is up 3.9 million, even as total employment is down by five million.
- The so-called quit rate has sagged to the lowest rate in years.
- Young workers now face double-digit unemployment and job prospects for young workers aren’t very good.
- As a result, the birth rate has just hit a 25-year low of 1.87 births per woman. And
- Of jobs that have been added, more than 40 percent of new private sector jobs are in low-paying categories such as leisure and hospitality, bars, and restaurants
- Millions of people who had good private sector jobs are now dependent on the government for life support.
- Roughly 15 percent of the population, a record, representing over 46 million Americans, are in the food stamp program, compared to the 7.9 percent participation from 1970 to 2000.
- A record 11 million-plus Americans are now collecting federal disability checks. Half of them have come on board since President Barack Obama took office.
Sure doesn’t look like we’ve turned the corner yet.
Tags: Economy, employment, unemployment, Zuckerman
The Homa Files 
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