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Employment vs. Unemployment

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Employment – Unemployment

Employment vs. unemployment… You would think that they are two sides of the same coin. But when it comes to government stats they may not be.

The government uses two entirely different surveys to calculate Employment and Unemployment and as we will see since 2010 they have started to paint entirely different pictures. A few days ago we looked at how an independent organization (Gallup poles) is now tracking unemployment rates and how the government numbers appear to be understating the level of unemployment. Today we will look at the government’s own numbers and how they don’t even agree with each other… giving more evidence that the government is slanting the data. [Read more…] about Employment vs. Unemployment

How U.S. Unemployment Rates Compare to other OECD Countries

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Unemployment rates in the U.S. in January were 8.3%
See: Unemployment Rate Chart
Which is very similar to the average Unemployment rate in other OECD countries. The OECD area average unemployment rate was 8.2% in January 2012, having remained basically unchanged throughout 2011. The Euro area was significantly higher at 10.7% reaching a record high since the start of the global financial crisis. It has continued to move higher since June 2011 while the U.S. has decreased from 9.1% to 8.3% during the same period.

Austria remains lower than the rest of the Euro area (and the U.S.) with an unemployment rate of 4.0%, Luxembourg has a rate of 5.1% and Germany has 5.8% compared to other Euro area countries like the Slovak Republic at 13.3%,  Slovenia 8.2% and Finland 7.5%. The dubious honor of the highest unemployment rate in the OECD goes to Spain with an unemployment rate of 23.3%.

Among non-European OECD countries, the unemployment rate fell slightly in Australia (to 5.1%), Mexico (to 4.8%) while it increased slightly in Japan (to 4.6%) and Korea (to 3.2%).

New data for February 2012 show that the unemployment rate for the United States was stable at a seasonally adjusted 8.3% (following five consecutive monthly declines) while it fell by 0.2 percentage point in Canada (to 7.4%).

OECD Unemployment January 2012

Unadjusted U-3 unemployment in the U.S. in February was 8.7%
See: U-6 Unemployment Rate for information on the broader unemployment rate calculation.

 

The Difference a Degree Makes in Unemployment Levels

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The Difference a College Degree Makes

We’re always told by our parents that we need a good education in order to get a good job. And that we will make more money if we have a good education. But these days we hear of unemployed college graduates camping out in New York city and protesting Wall Street because they can’t find jobs. So let’s take a look at the numbers and compare the unemployment rate based on eduation level.  In the following chart we will look at four educational levels. The first level are those people with less than a High School education. The second level are those with a High School diploma. The third level are those with some college education or an associates degree. And finally those with a Four Year College Degree.

College Degree

As we can see from the chart above, obviously the unemployment rate is the highest for those with the least education… as we would expect. Logically if you were an employer you would lay off the least educated employees first because they are more readily replaceable. We can even tell by the numbers the actual difference a high school education makes. The average unemployment rate for the period from 1992 through October 2011 for High School graduates was 5.5% while the average for those who didn’t graduate from High School was 9.2%. So simply by getting a High School education, you decreased your odds of being unemployed drastically with the actual difference being 3.7%.  But if you look at the chart you will see that a High School education was even more valuable than that. The real benefit of being able to get a job is when jobs are scarce, so even though the average difference was 3.7% during bad times, i.e. when the overall unemployment rate is higher the difference climbs even more.

First, let’s look at the difference just a high school education makes. [Read more…] about The Difference a Degree Makes in Unemployment Levels

OECD Unemployment Rate Hovering at 8.2% in July

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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released its report on unemployment in OECD countries today.

The unemployment rate for the entire OECD area was  unchanged for the fifth consecutive month at 8.2% in July 2011. The Euro area unemployment rate was unchanged at 10.0% for the second consecutive month and has hovered around this level since December 2010.

Between June and July unemployment rates for OECD countries displayed very little movement. The single highest rise was for Luxembourg (up 0.3 percentage points to 4.6%) while the greatest fall was in Mexico (down 0.5 percentage points at 5.3%). New August 2011 data for the United States (unchanged at 9.1%) and Canada (up by 0.1 percentage point to 7.3%) confirm this current picture of broad stability in unemployment rates.

Countries where high unemployment rates continue to persist include Ireland (14.5%), Portugal (12.3%), the Slovak Republic (13.4%) and Spain (21.2%).

Around 44.5 million people were unemployed across the OECD area in July 2011, down 2.0 million from July 2010 but still 11.4 million higher than in July 2008.

OECD Unemployment July

 

OECD Unemployment Rates, s.a.

Percentage of labour force

2008 2009 2010 2010 2011 2011
Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul
OECD – Total 6.1 8.4 8.6 8.6 8.5 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2 8.2
Major Seven 5.9 8.1 8.2 8.1 8.1 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.7 7.8 7.8
European Union 7.1 9 9.7 9.6 9.6 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.4 9.4 9.5 9.5 9.5
Euro area 7.7 9.6 10.1 10.1 10.1 10 10 10 10 9.9 10 10 10
Australia 4.2 5.6 5.2 5.2 5.2 5 4.9 5 4.9 4.9 4.9 4.9 5.1
Austria 3.8 4.8 4.4 4.4 4.2 4.4 4.1 4.5 4.3 4.1 4.2 3.9 3.7
Belgium 7 7.9 8.3 8.3 7.9 7.2 7.3 7.1 7.1 7.2 7.4 7.4 7.5
Canada(1) 6.1 8.3 8 8 7.7 7.7 7.5 7.8 7.7 7.6 7.4 7.4 7.2
Chile 7.8 10.8 8.2 8 7.1 7.3 7.2 7.3 7 7.2 7.2 7.5
Czech Republic 4.4 6.7 7.3 7.1 7.1 6.9 6.5 6.9 6.7 6.6 6.5 6.5 6.4
Denmark 3.4 6.1 7.4 7.4 7.7 7.6 7.3 7.6 7.6 7.3 7.4 7.3 7.1
Estonia 5.6 13.8 16.8 16.1 14.5 13.6 12.8 13.6 13.6 12.8 12.8 12.8
Finland 6.4 8.2 8.4 8.3 8.1 8 7.9 8 8 7.9 7.9 7.9 7.9
France 7.8 9.5 9.8 9.8 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.8 9.9
Germany 7.6 7.7 7.1 6.9 6.6 6.4 6.2 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.2 6.1 6.1
Greece 7.7 9.5 12.6 13 14.1 15 15 15
Hungary 7.8 10 11.2 11.1 11 11 10.1 10.9 10.6 10.3 10 9.9 9.7
Iceland 3 7.2 7.5 7.8 8.5 7.4 6.7
Ireland 6.4 11.8 13.7 13.8 14.3 14.2 14.2 14.2 14.1 14.1 14.1 14.3 14.5
Israel(3) 6.1 7.5 6.7 6.6 6.5 6 5.5
Italy 6.8 7.8 8.4 8.3 8.3 8.1 8 8.1 8.1 8 8.1 8 8
Japan 4 5.1 5.1 5 5 4.7 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.7 4.5 4.6 4.7
Korea 3.2 3.6 3.7 3.6 3.4 3.9 3.4 4 4 3.6 3.3 3.3 3.3
Luxembourg 4.9 5.1 4.5 4.4 4.5 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.3 4.6
Mexico 4 5.5 5.4 5.2 5.4 5.1 5.5 5.2 5 5.2 5.5 5.8 5.3
Netherlands 3.1 3.7 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.3 4.2 4.3 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.1 4.3
New Zealand 4.2 6.1 6.5 6.4 6.7 6.5 6.5
Norway 2.5 3.1 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.2 3.4 3.3 3.3
Poland 7.2 8.2 9.6 9.5 9.6 9.4 9.5 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.5 9.5 9.4
Portugal 8.5 10.6 12 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.6 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.6 12.5 12.3
Slovak Republic 9.5 12 14.4 14.3 14 13.5 13.4 13.5 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.4
Slovenia 4.4 5.9 7.3 7.3 7.8 8.1 8.3 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.3 8.4 8.4
Spain 11.4 18 20.1 20.5 20.5 20.6 20.8 20.6 20.7 20.7 20.8 21 21.2
Sweden 6.2 8.3 8.4 8.3 7.9 7.7 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.4 7.7 7.4 7.4
Switzerland 3.2 4.1 4.2 4.5 3.9 3.9
Turkey 9.7 12.5 10.6 10.5 9.9 9.3 9.2 9.1 9.1 9.3
United Kingdom 5.6 7.6 7.8 7.7 7.8 7.7 7.7 7.6 7.7 7.8
United States (2) 5.8 9.3 9.6 9.6 9.6 8.9 9.1 8.9 8.8 9 9.1 9.2 9.1

Teen Employment Rate Plunges

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Only 1 in 4 Teens is Employed

Teenage employment rates have averaged around 45% since the 1950’s but since 2000 the teenage employment rate has plummeted. Currently less than 25% of teenagers can find a job. But don’t worry the government has a plan to create 50,000 new jobs…

So what is this magic plan you might ask?

Teen Employment Rate Plummets

Simple [Read more…] about Teen Employment Rate Plunges

Almost 1 Million Unemployed Show up for 50K McDonald’s Jobs

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Recently McDonald’s decided to have a mass hiring of 50,000 new employees for it’s US based hamburger restaurants some of which will be full-time and some part-time. They actually ended up hiring 62,000 new employees as a result of all the applications they received. Because many of the restaurants are owned by franchisees the wages are not controlled by the company but many of the jobs were estimated to be for more than the nationwide minimum wage of $7.25 / hr. and managers can make up to $50,000 per year. [Read more…] about Almost 1 Million Unemployed Show up for 50K McDonald’s Jobs

OECD unemployment rate remains at 8.2% in March

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The OECD area unemployment rate, at 8.2% in March 2011, was unchanged from February following three consecutive monthly decreases. The Euro area unemployment rate was also stable at 9.9%.

For the first time since the start of the financial crisis in 2007, unemployment rates are showing a steady or declining pattern in most OECD countries. Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden were the only countries whose unemployment rates rose in March. New data referring to April 2011 also show a rise (by 0.2 percentage point, to 9.0%) for the United States.

Countries experiencing continuously high unemployment rates include Hungary (11.9%), Ireland (14.7%), Portugal (11.1%), and the Slovak Republic (13.9%). Spain’s 20.7% unemployment rate means that, since May 2010, over one in every five people in the Spanish labour force has been unemployed and seeking work.

There were 44.4 million unemployed persons in OECD countries in March 2011, down 2.6 million from March 2010 but still 13.6 million higher than in March 2008.

Selected Unemployment Rates, s.a.

February 2011 – March 2011 (1)

Unemployment Rate in OECD Countries Falls in February

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OECD unemployment rate records fourth consecutive fall at 8.2% in February

The OECD area unemployment rate fell again in February 2011 to 8.2%, down 0.1 percentage point from January. This was the fourth consecutive decrease, following a period of stability of around 8.5% throughout most of 2010. New March 2011 data show further declines of 0.1 percentage point in the unemployment rates of  both the United States (to 8.8%) and Canada (7.7%).

The February data show, for the first time since the recent financial crisis, a pattern of declining or steady unemployment rates for the majority of OECD countries. The unemployment rate fell in the Euro area to 9.9%, the first time back into single digits since December 2009. Austria, Korea, Mexico and Spain were the only countries recording rises in their unemployment rates. Countries still experiencing very high unemployment rates include Hungary (12.0%), Ireland (14.9%), Portugal (11.1%), the Slovak Republic (14.0%) and Spain (20.5%).

There were 44.9 million unemployed persons in OECD countries in February 2011, down 2.1 million from February 2010 but 14.3 million higher than in February 2008.

Selected Unemployment Rates, s.a.

January 2011- February 2011


September 2010 Unemployment Rate

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October 8, 2010

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released their report for September today. The number of unemployed persons, at 14.8 million, was essentially unchanged in September, and the unemployment rate held at 9.6%.

Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult men was 9.8%, adult women was 8.0%, teenagers was 26.0%, whites was 8.7%, blacks was 16.1%, and Hispanics was 12.4% showing little or no change in September.

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over), at 6.1 million, was little changed over the month but was down by 640,000 since a series high of 6.8 million in May. In September, 41.7 % of unemployed persons had been jobless for 27 weeks or more.





Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate September 2008 - September 2010 Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics www.BLS.Gov