Tag: unemployment

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Middle Class Jobs Continue to Lag

Nonfarm payroll employment gains were 160,000 in April according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a drop of 40,000 from the prior three month average. Job gains occurred in professional and business services, health care, and financial activities, while mining employment continued to decline.

The reason for the decline in the U.S. economy and the continuing problem in the American balance of trade can be gleaned from delving into the areas that continue to be the weakest. Manufacturing employment changed little in April (+4,000), after losing 45,000 jobs over the prior 2 months. Mining employment continued to decline in April (-7,000). The industry has lost 191,000 jobs since a recent peak in September 2014. More than three-fourths of the job losses over this period have been in support activities for mining.

Middle income jobs are suffering. A jobs market that is based on health care, retail, and consulting services produces little that can be exported.

While the White House continues to tout an unemployment rate of 5%, the reality is far different.  The number is made artificially low by the declining number of Americans in the workforce (a four decade low) and it fails to reflect that a substantial number of jobs created are low-paying or part time positions that replace full time, lost middle income jobs. Additionally, a worrisome large number of the unemployed, 25.7%, have been unemployed for a prolonged period.

Among the employed, the number working part time for economic reasons, also referred to as involuntary part-time workers, was 6.0 million in April. This measure has shown little movement since November. (Involuntary part-time workers are those who would have preferred full-time employment but were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find full-time work.)

Reuters reports that “Manufacturing’s job problem undercuts hopeful forecasts that U.S. companies would bring significant numbers of jobs back from overseas. That’s simply not happening to a degree sufficient to offset the continuing exodus of work and suggest deeper problems roiling factory floors…The slowdown in oil and gas has radiated deep into the economy and huge cuts by heavy equipment and farm machinery manufacturers are battering thousands of smaller suppliers across the industrial belt….the downturn has spread gloom across the U.S. industrial heartland…many Midwest manufacturers say they are as disillusioned with Washington’s view of the economy as their hourly workers.”
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While manufacturing jobs had been declining for several decades, the dramatic downward slide can be traced to President Clinton’s allowing China off the hook from yearly reviews of its policies.

It is deeply frustrating that the current employment crisis in middle income jobs is not just  the temporary result of a cyclical downturn.  It is the direct result of the White House’s tax and environmental policies. Taxes for U.S. corporations are the highest in the developed world, which encourages companies to move their jobs overseas. The Obama Administration’s regulatory tidal wave, especially those designed to destroy the coal industry, have targeted not only a large number of jobs, but also some of the best paying middle income jobs in the economy.

CNS  notes that “Over the course of the 86 full months that President Barack Obama has completed serving in the White House—from February 2009 through March 2016–the U.S. Treasury has collected approximately $18,764,164,000,000 in tax revenues (in non-inflation-adjusted dollars), according to the Monthly Treasury Statements issued during that period…That equals approximately $124,003 for each of the 151,320,000 persons who, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, had either a full- or part-time job during March 2016. During the same 86-month stretch of the Obama presidency, the total debt of the federal government increased from $10,632,005,246,736.97 to $19,264,938,619,643.07, according to the Treasury. That is an increase in the debt of $8,632,933,372,906.10—or approximately $57,051 for each of the 151,320,000 people with jobs as of March.

HotAir reports that there is “visceral disgust” for Obama’s environmental policies in the Appalachian counties… West Virginia…energy costs are expected to go up 40 percent under Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP), which sets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent by 2030 from 2005 levels. It’s a regulatory nightmare, a job killer, and a policy that Hillary Clinton plans to continue if she’s elected.”

Investors.com believes that Obama’s “policies have made it harder than ever for manufacturers to hire…New Environmental Protection Agency regulations to slash carbon emissions 30% by 2030 will have a devastating effect on factory jobs. A study by the Heritage Foundation found that this regulation by itself would cost each American $7,000 in income while killing 500,000 factory jobs and 45% of all coal-industry jobs. Then there’s the just-released ozone standards, also from the EPA’s job-killing policy shop. A study by NERA Economic Consulting for the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) estimated a $140 billion hit to GDP and as many as 1.4 million jobs lost each year. Since Obama took office, thousands of new regulations have gone into effect. In 2012, regulation cost the U.S. economy about $2 trillion, or 12% of GDP. And manufacturers have been hit hardest. The average factory today spends $19,564 per worker to comply with regulations. For small manufacturers, it’s bigger: $34,671 per worker.”

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Fundamental Weakness in U.S. Economy

There is growing evidence that the fundamental underpinnings of the U.S. economy are weak.

The indicators are significant.  The Federal Reserve  reports that Industrial production declined 0.4 percent in December. The decrease for total industrial production in November was larger than previously reported. For the fourth quarter as a whole, industrial production fell at an annual rate of 3.4 percent. Manufacturing output edged down in December. Mining production decreased 0.8 percent in December for its fourth consecutive monthly decline. At 106.0 percent of its 2012 average, total industrial production in December was 1.8 percent below its year-earlier level. Capacity utilization for the industrial sector decreased 0.4 percentage point in December to 76.5 percent, a rate that is 3.6 percentage points below its long-run (1972–2014) average.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis disclosed that the latest numbers for the U.S. Balance of Trade in goods and services indicated a deficit of $42.4 billion, meaning that foreign nations sold far more to the U.S. than America sold to them. “Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $25.2 billion, or 5.5 percent, from the same period in 2014. Exports decreased $99.0 billion or 4.6 percent. Imports decreased $73.7 billion or 2.8 percent…Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit increased $1.2 billion from the three months ending in November 2014.

The poor performance of the economy is reflected in the jobs picture. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the seasonally adjusted number of Americans 16 and over filing for unemployment in Dec. 0f 2014 was 147,190, but in December of 2015, it was 149,929. In addition, initial jobless claims increased by 10,000 in the January 10—January 16 period, the highest level in half a year.  Marketwatch notes that “initial claims have risen more than 14% after touching a post-recession low of 256,000 in early October.”

Writing in the Washington Times, Donald Lambro warns that the U.S. is headed for another recession.  “Much of the major economic data suggests we’re moving in that direction…Clearly our economy is slowing down and economists are forecasting that fourth quarter growth in 2015 will be down significantly…All the telltale signs are there. Consumers aren’t buying as they used to, even with rock bottom oil prices and a gas tank of regular costing less than $2 a gallon. Yet retail sales fell in December at the height of the Christmas buying season. A New York Times headline last week put it this way: ‘Retail Sales Were Lackluster in December, Signaling Fragile Economy.’

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Bloomberg notes that “Investment managers are warning that markets probably have further to fall …The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will drop another 10 percent to 1,650.” That projected is mirrored by the International Business Times  Projections for 2016 are cloudy, with some prominent economists warning of an imminent U.S. recession and others predicting smooth sailing ahead.”

There is little reason to believe that direct Washington spending can or will stimulate the economy.  President Obama’s $831 billion stimulus package–The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—accomplished little, and the nearly bankrupt federal government doesn’t have the resources for another attempt. The national debt, which skyrocketed under the Obama Administration, is nearing $19 trillion, and will grow even larger. The Congressional Budget Office  predicts that the federal budget will also be severely stressed in the coming year. “In 2016, the federal budget deficit will increase… If current laws generally remained unchanged, the deficit would grow over the next 10 years, and by 2026 it would be considerably larger than its average over the past 50 years… Debt held by the public would also grow significantly from its already high level.”

The central question is how the generally robust American economy descended to its current condition, and why it continues to exhibit weakness. Similar to the 2007 recession, which was caused by decades of a misguided government legislation  that mandated high-risk loans which eventually caused serious harm to key financial institutions, the looming—perhaps better described as ongoing– crisis results from federal policies.

American employers face severe disadvantages. Tax rates are the highest of any developed nation, and regulations are more extreme. Bad trade deals continue to allow nations to sell relatively unhindered to U.S. consumers, while Washington does little to address discriminatory treatment of American productions sold overseas. In many cases, the intellectual property produced in the U.S., including software, entertainment features, and new/advanced technological techniques and goods are outright stolen through industrial espionage and other means, with little response from the U.S. government.

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Importing Unemployment

In another example of why many Americans believe that elites are not concerned with the average citizen, The White House, supported by academia and big business, is loosening restrictions on noncitizens holding Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)  jobs.

The controversy concerns H-1B visas, described by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)  as being used “to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require the theoretical or practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, including but not limited to: scientists, engineers, or computer programmers.”

In a press release strategically timed during the holidays to avoid much attention, DHS said that the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Agencies (USCIS) has proposed a rule “that would modernize and improve certain aspects of employment-based nonimmigrant and immigrant visa programs. USCIS is also proposing regulatory amendments to better enable U.S. employers to hire and retain certain foreign workers who are beneficiaries of approved employment-based immigrant visa petitions and are waiting to become lawful permanent residents (LPRs).”

According to The Hill, “The agency said the rules are primarily aimed at helping high-skilled foreign workers who have been approved for a permanent work visa but are still waiting for their green card because of the backlog.’ Simply put, many workers in the immigrant visa process are not free to consider all available employment and career development opportunities,’ DHS said in the proposed rules.”

The Hill reports that DHS believes the change is necessary to “allow certain temporary workers who are on track to become permanent residents to stay beyond the 6-year limit of the H-1B program. The changes would also allow those temporary visa holders and certain other foreign workers to more easily change jobs without fear of losing their spot in line for a green card. The DHS says the current backlog can delay permanent residency for high-skilled workers from a few months to as much as a decade. Because of country-based caps, the delays have hit foreigners from China and India the hardest, where demand is high.”

The move is supported by powerful interests. Zerohedge reports that “High-tech titans like Bill Gates, Steve Case, and Mark Zuckerberg are repeatedly quoted proclaiming a dearth of talent that imperils the nation’s future. Politicians, advocates, and articles and op-eds published by media outlets—including The New York Times, Forbes, CNN, Slate, and others—invoke such foreign-born entrepreneurs as Google’s Sergey Brin or Yahoo’s Jerry Yang, as if arrival from abroad (Brin and Yang came to the US as children) explains the success of the companies they founded . . . with partners who are US natives. Journalists endorse studies that trumpet the job-creating skills of these entrepreneurs from abroad, while ignoring the weaknesses that other scholars find in the research.
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“Meanwhile, The National Science Board’s biennial book, Science and Engineering Indicators, consistently finds that the US produces several times the number of STEM graduates than can get jobs in their fields. Recent reports from the National Institutes of Health, the National Academies, and the American Chemical Society warn that overproduction of STEM PhDs is damaging America’s ability to recruit native-born talent, and advise universities to limit the number of doctorates they produce.”

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Reaction has been harsh. Breitbart  contends that “ Industry executives and university advocates have successfully duped nearly every reporter, editor and anchor nationwide about the scale and purpose of the H-1B professional outsourcing program. The journalists–and Americans—have been kept in the dark while universities and many allied name-brand companies have quietly imported an extra workforce of at least 100,000 lower-wage foreign professionals in place of higher-wage American graduates, above the supposed annual cap of 85,000 new H-1Bs.Less than one-sixth of these extra 100,000 outsourced hires are the so-called ‘high-tech’ computer experts that dominate media coverage of the contentious H-1B private-sector outsourcing debate. These white-collar guest-workers are not immigrants — they are foreign professionals hired at low wages for six years to take outsourced, white-collar jobs in the United States. Many hope to stay in the United States, but most guest-workers return home after six years.”

An analysis from Zerohedge reveals that “since December 2007, according to the Household Survey, only 790,000 native born American jobs have been added. Contrast that with the 2.1 million foreign-born Americans who have found a job over the same time period.”

Writing for the Center for Immigration Studies, Steven Camarota asks “Does it make sense to continue to admit a million new permanent immigrants each year, along with several hundred thousand guest workers, given the enormous pool of people not working or trying to find full-time work?”

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U.S. Workers Suffer in Obama Economy

As the President delivers his State of the Union address tonight, Americans will reflect on the state of their own personal situations. Despite diligent attempts by federal agencies to paint a rosy picture, the reality is average citizens are enduring difficult times. Employment and wages are faring poorly.

Let’s start with wages.  Marketwatch reports that wages have recently declined. “Average wages fell a penny to $25.24 an hour.” Normally, after the end of a recession, wages are expected to rise, leading to further belief that our economy, rather than recovering, is heading in the wrong direction.

Those workers with declining pay may still consider themselves fortunate, however, since they, at least actually have jobs. Despite the fact that the White Houses claims that unemployment has been reduced, a closer look reveals a far more troubling picture.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,

“Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 292,000 in December, and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 5.0 percent…Employment gains occurred in several industries, led by professional and business services, construction, health care, and food services and drinking places. Mining employment continued to decline. The number of unemployed persons, at 7.9 million, was essentially unchanged in December, and the unemployment rate was 5.0 percent for the third month in a row…Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for blacks declined to 8.3 percent in December, while the rates for adult men (4.7 percent), adult women (4.4 percent),teenagers (16.1 percent), whites (4.5 percent), Asians (4.0 percent), and Hispanics(6.3 percent) showed little or no change…The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 2.1 million in December and accounted for 26.3 percent of the unemployed.The number of long-term unemployed has shown little movement since June…”

Digging deeper reveals troubling specifics.  As the New York Post noted,
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“… those numbers don’t reflect what is happening on the Main Streets of American. There, life is a lot tougher. For example, the broader measure of unemployment, called U-6, which measures Americans working in part-time jobs because they can’t find a 40-hour-a-week job, finds 6 million people, or 9.9 percent of the workforce, not able to find a full-time job…Plus, if you add in all the discouraged workers who want a job but have given up looking, the number of unemployed could reach 20 percent of the population. There were some other strange things in Friday’s glowing employment report. For instance, why did construction jobs increase by 45,000 last month? Labor says it had nothing to do with the unusually warm weather in most of the nation, but how could that not have had an impact? There were also 39,000 new health-care jobs, which was about average for every month in 2015. But most of these jobs are probably related to the continued rollout of ObamaCare. A change in the law like that has nothing to do with economic vitality. ..Another noticeable oddity in Friday’s report is this: “Food service and drinking places added 37,000 jobs in December,” Labor said. For 2015 there were 357,000 new jobs in this category. Really? How many new bars were added to your town?”

Dr. Paul C. Roberts, writing in Global Research,, is also harshly critical of the optimistic jobs picture. He notes that “the alleged job growth always takes place in non-tradable domestic services, that is, in areas that do not produce exports and have no competition from imports. This is the job profile of a Third World country…the US labor force participation rate has been declining. In December, 2015, there are 1,185,000 fewer Americans in the labor force than in December 2014; yet, the working age population is higher today than a year ago. The reported unemployment rate does not include “discouraged workers,” that is, workers who unable to find jobs have ceased looking for work. The reported unemployment rate of 5% only counts non-discouraged workers who are still expecting to find a job. The actual unemployment rate, that is, the rate that includes Americans who have given up hope of finding employment, is 23%… let’s look at the make believe jobs that the BLS claims. Almost all of them are in lowly paid domestic services, such as waitresses, bartenders, couriers and messengers, employment services, social services and health care (primarily ambulatory health care services).”

The New York Times provides this analysis: the strongest employment growth during the sluggish recovery has been in low-wage work, at places like strip malls and fast-food restaurants. In essence, the poor economy has replaced good jobs with bad ones. That is the conclusion of a new report from the National Employment Law Project, a research and advocacy group, analyzing employment trends four years into the recovery… Higher-wage industries — like accounting and legal work — shed 3.6 million positions during the recession and have added only 2.6 million positions during the recovery. But lower-wage industries lost two million jobs, then added 3.8 million… With joblessness high and job gains concentrated in low-wage industries, hundreds of thousands of Americans have accepted positions that pay less than they used to make, in some cases, sliding out of the middle class and into the ranks of the working poor.

The Washington Times outlines another key employment issue: “Two-thirds of those who have found employment under President Obama are immigrants, both legal and illegal.”

The Obama Administration’s high corporate taxes, lax immigration policies, poor international trade policies, excessive regulations, environmental extremism and disincentives on hiring from programs such as the Affordable Care Act have devastated the middle income job market.

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White House policies continue to harm employment

The latest federal jobs report, again providing bad news for job seekers and the economy, raises a vital question: since the statistics clearly indicate that President Obama’s economic policies have failed, why has there been no change of course from the White House?

According to the Department of Labor, (DOL) very few jobs were created last month, significantly below already modest expectations. They were in fields that, for the most part, do little to revive an American economy apparently heading into recession, and they did not go to those most sorely in need, or do anything to assist the bedrock of the U.S., the middle class.

Among the dismal numbers:

“Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.7 percent),adult women, teenagers (16.3 percent), whites (4.4 percent), blacks (9.2 percent), Asians (3.6 percent), and Hispanics (6.4 percent) showed little or no change in September. The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks increased by 268,000 to 2.4 million in September, partially offsetting a decline in August. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 2.1 million in September and accounted for 26.6 percent of the unemployed. The civilian labor force participation rate declined to 62.4 percent in September; the rate had been 62.6 percent for the prior 3 months. The employment-population ratio edged down to 59.2 percent in September, after showing little movement for the first 8 months of the year.” In addition, hourly wages declined.  In a worrisome note, the August numbers were revised downward, something that generally happens only during a recession.

The American Enterprise Institute called the information a “worrying jobs report. Few jobs created, no pressure on wages and a slight increase in the long-term unemployed. Labor force participation declines even further.”

Breitbart notes that  “The number of Americans not in the labor force exceeded 94 million for the second time in a row last month hitting a new record high.”

Zerohedge.com  called the DOL report

“…a total disaster, 60K below the consensus and below the lowest estimate. Just as bad, the August print was also revised far lower from 173K to 136K. And while it is less followed, the household survey was an unmitigated disaster, with 236,000 jobs lost in September. Putting it into perspective, in 2015 job growth has averaged 198,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 260,000 in 2014. The recession is almost here…not only were workers paid less, they worked less, as the average hourly work week declined from 34.6 hours to 34.5, suggesting an imminent collapse in economic output.”

The Washington Examiner’s  review of the DOL report revealed that “For a third month in a row, native-born Americans saw their job numbers tumble while immigrants experience solid gains. According to the montly Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers just released, “foreign-born” jobs numbers increased by 14,000, while those for “native-born” Americans fell off a cliff, by 262,000. Over the past three months, the job numbers for native-born have dropped by nearly 1 million, exactly the number of jobs President Obama promised to add when he ran for re-election in 2012.”

Now in its seventh year of failure in attempts to turn the job market around, Americans are justifiably asking why President Obama continues to cling to policies that have clearly and significantly failed.

The Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Ian Murray  implicates the actions of the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board for at least some part of the depressed job picture. “Both bodies have made moves over the past few months that make flexible working arrangements difficult. Thereby, they have discouraged both businesses from hiring and workers who would prefer flexible arrangements from getting the working conditions they want. Examples include:

  • The Department of Labor’s interpretationof the Fair Labor Standards Act, which essentially says that most independent contractors have to be classified as employees, and therefore subject to a host of cost-increasing regulations.
  • The Department of Labor’s proposed overtime rule, which will significantly increase costs on businesses that promote from within if they wish to encourage aspirational staff to work longer hours. (The likelihoodis that hours will be cut instead.)
  • The National Labor Relations Board’s decisionon “joint employer” classification and its impending rulings on franchisesand contingent workers. These decisions threaten business models that sustain 5 million jobs across the U.S.

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With this regulatory onslaught ongoing, it should not be surprising that job growth has slowed (although there are clearly many other factors at work as well).”

The San Diego Tribune discusses the implications of hiring foreign workers through H-1B visas, allowing foreign workers to now compete on a larger scale for middle class jobs the same way they have competed for lower wage positions.

Both of those areas are important, but each plays only a singular role in the overall economic challenges imposed by a White House that, in the face of the worst economic climate in recent history, continues to overregulate, overtax, allows massive illegal immigration, pursues trade deals that don’t result in fairness for U.S. companies, and imposes uncertainty on American enterprises.

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U.S. economy, unemployment rate continues to underperform

While the media and the Bureau of Labor Statistics  continue to cite the “U-3” statistic to indicate the unemployment rate (currently 5.3%) the more accurate and realistic number is the BLS’s U-6 number, currently at 10.4%.

Of that percentage, an increasingly worrisome subset—those who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more—increased from 2,121,000 in June to 2,180,000 in July. A seriously troubling indicator of an economy that continues to be in ill health is the record 93,770,000 Americans not participating in the workforce, a 38 year low point.

There is little indication that the situation is improving, since the U.S. economy continues to grow below levels necessary to improve the jobs picture. The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)  reports that “Real gross domestic product — the value of the production of goods and services in the United States, adjusted for price changes — increased at an annual rate of 2.3 percent in the second quarter of 2015, according to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  In the first quarter, real GDP increased 0.6 percent (revised).

The BEA also announced on August 5  bad news in U.S. export numbers:

“[The] goods and services deficit was $43.8 billion in June, up $2.9 billion from $40.9 billion in May, revised. June exports were $188.6 billion, $0.1 billion less than May exports. June imports were $232.4 billion, $2.8 billion more than May imports.

“The June increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $2.9 billion to $63.5 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of less than $0.1 billion to $19.7 billion.

“Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $1.6 billion, or 0.6 percent, from the same period in 2014. Exports decreased $33.4 billion or 2.9 percent. Imports decreased $31.8 billion or 2.2 percent.

“Goods and Services Three-Month Moving Averages:

“The average goods and services deficit decreased $2.2 billion to $41.8 billion for the three months ending in June.

* Average exports of goods and services increased $0.2 billion to $189.1 billion in June.

* Average imports of goods and services decreased $2.1 billion to $230.9 billion in June.

Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit decreased $1.1 billion from the three months ending in June 2014.

* Average exports of goods and services decreased $6.8 billion from June 2014.

* Average imports of goods and services decreased $7.9 billion from June 2014.”

The jobs crisis is particularly acute for recent graduates, reports the Economic Policy Institute , even using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ less accurate U3:

  • “For young college graduates, the unemployment rate is currently 7.2 percent (compared with 5.5 percent in 2007), and the underemployment rate is 14.9 percent (compared with 9.6 percent in 2007).
  • “For young high school graduates, the unemployment rate is 19.5 percent (compared with 15.9 percent in 2007), and the underemployment rate is 37.0 percent (compared with 26.8 percent in 2007).

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  • “The high share of unemployed and underemployed young college graduates and the share of employed young college graduates working in jobs that do not require a college degree underscore that the current unemployment crisis among young workers did notarise because today’s young adults lack the right education or skills. Rather, it stems from weak demand for goods and services, which makes it unnecessary for employers to significantly ramp up hiring.

EPI also reports:

  • “Wages of young college and high school graduates are performing poorly—and are substantially lower today than in 2000. The real (inflation-adjusted) wages of young high school graduates are 5.5 percent lower today than in 2000, and the wages of young college graduates are 2.5 percent lower.
  • “The cost of higher education has grown far more rapidly than median family income, leaving students with little choice but to take out loans which, upon graduating into a labor market with limited job opportunities, they may not have the funds to repay.
    • “From the 1983–1984 enrollment year to the 2013–2014 enrollment year, the inflation-adjusted cost of a four-year education, including tuition, fees, and room and board, increased 125.7 percent for private school and 129.0 percent for public school (according to the College Board).
    • “Between 2004 and 2014, there was a 92 percent increase in the number of student loan borrowers and a 74 percent increase in average student loan balances (according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York).
  • “Due to young college graduates’ limited job opportunities, stagnating wages, and the rising cost of higher education, college is becoming an increasingly difficult investment.”

The burden of severe levels of tuition-related debt makes the unemployment problem for college grads particularly troubling.

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America’s suffering and neglected middle class

The bad news for America’s middle class continues, as the real unemployment rate (the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)  U6 number) remains high at 10.5%, with long-term unemployment representing between a quarter and a third of all those without jobs.  For those with jobs, salaries have not improved in relation to inflation rates.

While more federal dollars went to the poor, and the wealthy benefited from President Obama’s policies, (The Federal Reserve notes that during the Obama Administration, only the wealthiest 10% saw their median income rise during the 2010-2013 period) the middle class has suffered.

According to the Federal Reserve  “Families in the middle to upper middle parts (between the 40th and 90th percentiles) of the income distribution saw little change in average real incomes between 2010 and 2013 and thus have failed to recover the losses experienced between 2007 and 2010.  Only families at the very top of the income distribution saw widespread income gains between 2010 and 2013, although mean and median incomes were still below 2007 levels.

“Consistent with income trends and differential holdings of housing and corporate equities, families at the bottom of the income distribution saw continued substantial declines in real net worth between 2010 and 2013, while those in the top half saw, on average, modest gains. ‰ Ownership rates of housing and businesses fell substantially between 2010 and 2013. ‰ Retirement plan participation in 2013 continued on the downward trajectory observed between the 2007 and 2010 surveys for families in the bottom half of the income distribution. Participation rebounded slightly for upper-middle income families, but it did not move back to the levels observed in 2007.”

The National Employment Law Project notes that “Since employment hit bottom in February 2010 Employment growth during the early recovery was heavily concentrated in lower-wage industries and occupations…We find that low-wage job creation was not simply a characteristic of the first phase of the recovery, but rather a pattern that has persisted for more than four years now. Deep into the recovery, job growth is still heavily concentrated in lower-wage industries. As a result of unbalanced employment growth, the types of jobs available to unemployed workers, new labor market entrants, and individuals looking to move up the career ladder are distinctly different today than they were prior to the recession.

“There continues to be an imbalance between the industries where the recession’s job losses occurred and the industries experiencing the greatest growth four years into the recovery. Lower-wage industries accounted for 22 percent of job losses during the recession, but 44 percent of employment growth over the past four years. Today, lower-wage industries employ 1.85 million more workers than at the start of the recession. Mid-wage industries accounted for 37 percent of job losses, but 26 percent of recent employment growth. There are now 958,000 fewer jobs in mid-wage industries than at the start of the recession. Higher-wage industries accounted 41 percent of job losses, but 30 percent of recent employment growth. There are now 976,000 fewer jobs in higher-wage industries than at the start of the recession. Private sector employment growth over the current recovery is stronger than it was following the 2001 recession, but job growth is more concentrated in lower-wage industries.”

A Townhall review of the ongoing plight of the middle class states:  “… middle class Americans are the backbone of the country; yet their interests always seem to take a backseat to those of the wealthy, the poor and the naked self-interest of BOTH political parties. There’s nothing wrong with giving the poor a hand-up or making sure that the rich are treated fairly, but looking after the interests of America’s middle class should be priority #1 for both parties. Instead of treating the interests of the middle class as a star for both parties to follow to take this country into the future, they’ve been getting screwed over. How?

Acute or chronic Poisoning most commonly by lead, generic levitra online robertrobb.com arsenic, mercury, copper and phosphorus. This is not the case in VigRX Plus. * Viagrs don’t increase the penis size cheapest viagra no prescription to treat this condition. This condition occurs when a man is willing to pay 12 levels online cialis mastercard deep. When you take tadalafil 40mg india more than one pill in a day and should keep the gap of 24hours between two doses. “Obamacare:  Millions of middle class small business owners have already lost their insurance and tens of millions of Americans will lose their insurance because of the employer mandate. However, the most devastating lie to the middle class was Obama’s false claim that the ACA would save the average family of four $2,500 a year in premiums. Instead, premiums skyrocketed by as much as 78% for some groups and there were “$643 billion in new taxes, penalties and fees” to cover the $50,000 a head it’s costing Americans to pay for each person who gets on Obamacare. …

“Soaring College Prices: Even though median household income has declined ACROSS THE BOARD for Americans in all income groups since 2000, the price of a college education rose at 7.45% per year from 1978 to 2011…

“Trade policies:  a lot of jobs that had to be done locally have moved overseas…as a nation that has embraced free trade policies, we’ve been far too reluctant to throw our weight around to ensure that markets are opened to American products… We don’t make radios and TVs here anymore. No cell phones are made here. Over 42,000 factories have closed since 2001. The villain isn’t free trade so much as politicians who aren’t willing to DEMAND that other countries give our businesses staffed by middle class workers the same opportunity to sell our products overseas as we give other nations.

“Immigration and Illegal Immigration: Illegal immigration mainly hurts poor Americans … However, there are also middle class Americans losing jobs and seeing their wages driven down because they have to compete with foreigners who don’t have the same expenses they do because they’re above the law…Government data show that since 2000 all of the net gain in the number of working-age (16 to 65) people holding a job has gone to immigrants (legal and illegal). This is remarkable given that native-born Americans accounted for two-thirds of the growth in the total working-age population. Though there has been some recovery from the Great Recession, there were still fewer working-age natives holding a job in the first quarter of 2014 than in 2000, while the number of immigrants with a job was 5.7 million above the 2000 level.

“The Debt: … The more money the Fed prints, the more inflation we’re going to ultimately have. The more inflation we have, the less the money that middle class Americans have saved over a lifetime is going to be worth.”

A CNN Money study confirms this. “Workers are taking home their smallest slice of U.S. income on record…That means the richest 1% of American families have captured 95% of the income gains in the recovery, according to economists at the forefront of income inequality research, Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez. The job market still faces a gaping hole… The poverty rate has barely budged during Obama’s presidency, marking the first time it has remained at or above 15% for three consecutive years since 1965….Record number of Americans are on food stamps. Amid the recession, the food stamp rolls surged, and as of 2013, 48 million Americans were receiving the benefits — the highest number since the program began in 1969…The manufacturing revival was a mirage:  manufacturers … are operating with a U.S. workforce that’s a small fraction of the size it was two decades ago.”

The programs and benefits provided to the poor continue to be favored by politicians who see them as an effective method to secure their loyalty in upcoming elections. The wealthy use influence, connections, and contributions to enhance their position. The middle class, the backbone of the nation, continues to suffer.

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Economy languishes as high taxes set record

The U.S. economy continues to languish.

The U.S. Census Bureau has announced that “advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for June, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $442.0 billion, a decrease of 0.3 percent.”

Concern over the worrisome retail numbers is matched by poor news from the manufacturing portion of the economy. According to the Federal Reserve   “Industrial production decreased 0.2 percent in May after falling 0.5 percent in April. …Manufacturing output decreased 0.2 percent in May and was little changed, on net, from its level in January. In May, the index for mining moved down 0.3 percent after declining more than 1 percent per month, on average, in the previous four months. The slower rate of decrease for mining output last month was due in part to a reduced pace of decline in the index for oil and gas well drilling and servicing…”

The troubled indicators are reflected in continued wage and employment challenges. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,  the more accurate “U-6” unemployment number is 10.5%, but critics from across the political spectrum note that the number may not reflect the true extent of the unemployment crisis. Republicans claim that significant numbers of the un- and under-employed remain unaccounted. Socialist presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has stated that the true unemployment number for one segment of the population, unemployment African-American youth, is 51%.

Even those employed have little to cheer about. The Federal Reserve  reports that, over the long term,  wages have failed to keep up with the economy.
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The Pew Research Center notes that the purchasing power of wages has not progressed for decades. “For most U.S. workers, real wages — that is, after inflation is taken into account — have been flat or even falling for decades, regardless of whether the economy has been adding or subtracting jobs. Cash money isn’t the only way workers are compensated, of course — health insurance, retirement-account contributions, education and transit subsidies and other benefits all can be part of the package. But wages and salaries are the biggest (about 70%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics) and most visible component of employee compensation.”

One organization has increased its’ income during this era of economic challenges—the federal government. According to the monthly treasury statement Indications continue that the U.S. economy continues to languish.  According to the CNS analysis of the Monthly Treasury Statement,

“The federal government raked in a record of approximately $2,446,920,000,000 in tax revenues through the first nine months of fiscal 2015 (Oct. 1, 2014 through the end of June), That equaled approximately $16,451 for every person in the country who had either a full-time or part-time job in June…

Despite the record tax revenues the government ran up a deficit of $313,381,000,000 during the period.”

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The unemployment crisis continues

Despite optimistic statements from the White House, America’s unemployment crisis continues relatively unabated.

According to the most recent (June 19) report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)  “twenty-five states had unemployment rate increases from April, 9 states and the District of Columbia had decreases, and 16 states had no change…”

Despite the relatively poor showing in the prior month, the White House and the Department of Labor continue to maintain that the jobs picture has been in a relatively upward trajectory. The BLS report goes on to note that  “Forty-five states and the District of Columbia had unemployment rate decreases from a year earlier and five states had increases. The national jobless rate was essentially unchanged from April at 5.5 percent and was 0.8 percentage point lower than in May 2014.”

A more accurate look at the statistics, however, reveals that the nation’s employment status remains critical. James Clifton, writing for the Gallup organization, states that “ The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading…If you [are] unemployed and  [have] subsequently given up on finding a job — if you are so hopelessly out of work that you’ve stopped looking over the past four weeks — the Department of Labor doesn’t count you as unemployed… Right now, as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed…There’s another reason why the official rate is misleading. Say you’re an out-of-work engineer … If you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 — maybe someone pays you to mow their lawn — you’re not officially counted as unemployed …Yet another figure of importance that doesn’t get much press: those working part time but wanting full-time work. If you have a degree in chemistry or math and are working 10 hours part time because it is all you can find …the government doesn’t count …”

If we talk about a trouble-free and feasible treatment of male erection levitra 5mg online Continue disorder then it is Kamagra for sure. A https://pdxcommercial.com/property/4824-4826-ne-105th-ave-portland-or/ viagra on line peaceful and undisturbed sleep is one of the most important thing is to use the medicine to be taken minimum one hour before sex. It lingers in the system for as much as sildenafil online 17.50 hours. Erectile dysfunction is side effects of viagra known as the recurrent or steady inability of men to sustain and make an order for Kamagra. Gallup defines a good job as 30+ hours per week for an organization that provides a regular paycheck. “Right now, the U.S. is delivering at a staggeringly low rate of 44%, which is the number of full-time jobs as a percent of the adult population, 18 years and older. We need that to be 50% and a bare minimum of 10 million new, good jobs to replenish America’s middle class.”

The labor participation rate has hit lows not seen for decades. The Heritage Foundation’s reports that the drop in labor force participation accounts for virtually the entire reduction of the unemployment rate since 2009.

The Administration has claimed that new jobs have been created under its tenure. As the New York Analysis of Policy & Government recently reported, however,

“The jobs that have come back following the depths of the recession have been lower paying than those that were lost. The Wall Street Journal reports “[T]he job market is a far cry from what it was before the financial crisis slammed the economy in 2008.  The number of jobs in manufacturing, construction and government—typically well-paying fields—has shrunk, while lower- wage work grew.  The U.S. has 1.6 million fewer manufacturing jobs than when the recession began, but 941,000 more jobs in the accommodation and food-service sector.  More than 40% of the jobs added in just the past year have come in generally lower-paying fields such as food service, retail, and temporary help. The bad news for Americans doesn’t stop there. An analysis by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS)  notes that “two thirds of the net increase in employment since President Obama took office has gone to immigrant workers, primarily legal immigrants. [but also including some illegals]”

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Washington’s heavy hand hinders U.S. economy

As the New York Analysis of Policy & Government recently reported, American manufacturing remains in a state of crisis, with less employment in that crucial sector of the economy now than at the start of the Obama presidency. The impact of that issue on the U.S. trade balance is severe.

The most recent releases of the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis indicate a worsening of the trade deficit, with the deficit increasing by a very significant $15.5 billion in the latest survey. Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $6.4 billion, or 5.2 percent, from the same period in 2014. Exports decreased $11.7 billion or 2.0 percent. Imports decreased $5.3 billion or 0.8 percent.

The impact of adverse government actions concerning manufacturing is substantially responsible, although almost all sectors of the economy have been affected.  The Heritage Foundation’s latest “Index of Economic Freedom” noted that “substantial expansion in the size and scope of government, including through new and costly regulations in areas like finance and health care, has contributed significantly to the erosion of U.S. economic freedom.  The growth of government has been accompanied by increasing cronyism that has undermined the rule of law…”

Tax rates play a key role. The National Association of Manufacturers has released a study, “The United States needs a more competitive corporate tax system,” which clearly outlines the problem.

A summary of the report:

The personal information of the customers is kept confidential. viagra cheapest online davidfraymusic.com The sperms of patients with chronic prostatitis tend levitra from canada to show low motility and high mortality. Normal human reproductive health is a common generic cialis professional example of these inhibitors and have been found to be truly effective against erection problems and also provide many health benefits like: Gives deep relaxation to physical and mental health and releases stress and tension. Men with Peyronie’s disease must consult the doctor before taking this pill. buy line viagra “The United States holds the unenviable position of having a higher statutory corporate tax rate than any of our major trading partners—and all OECD [The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries. Among 135 nations, the U.S. rate is exceeded only by the United Arab Emirates. While skeptics point to the array of provisions that allow a reduction below the topline statutory rate, many ignore the additional burden created by state and local taxes.

“It is abundantly clear that, when compared to the rest of the developed world, the U.S. rate is out of step at best and uncompetitive at worst. The current global tax system in the United States puts manufacturing firms at a disadvantage inside and outside foreign countries. The current global tax system in the United States puts manufacturing firms at a disadvantage inside and outside foreign countries. If the United States converted to a territorial system as part of comprehensive tax reform, it would remove the current barrier to corporate repatriations (transfers in foreign subsidiaries’ profits to U.S. parent companies), promoting a marked rise in domestic investment. The profits of C corporations (entities taxed separately from their shareholders) are taxed once at the corporate level at the corporate income tax rate and again when the after-tax profit is distributed back to shareholders at personal income tax rates. The already high corporate tax rate, coupled with double taxation of dividends and capital gains, reduces economic efficiency by discouraging capital formation and broader economic growth.

“Currently, the United States is the only country in the G-7 that taxes the active foreign earnings of its companies worldwide. Only four other OECD countries have a worldwide system—Chile, Ireland, South Korea and Mexico. The other 29 have a territorial tax system in which business income earned abroad by foreign subsidiaries is wholly or partially exempt from home country tax. Again, the United States fails to respond to global trends. Fourteen of 34 OECD member countries had a territorial tax system in 2000, increasing to 23 in 2005 and 29 in 2014…

“The Tax Foundation maintains an international tax competitiveness index for the 34 OECD countries. Key principles of tax policy examined in the rating system are the competitiveness of the tax code, its neutrality between consumption and savings and whether it favors one industry over another. On all counts, the United States scores poorly, placing 32 out of 34 in the 2014 index. As outlined above, U.S. corporate tax rates, both statutory and marginal effective, are higher than tax rates in our major trading partners, making it harder for U.S. companies to compete in the global marketplace. Similarly, the U.S. worldwide tax system, an outlier when compared to tax systems in most other developed countries, puts U.S. global companies at a competitive disadvantage vis-à-vis their competitors outside the United States. Converting from a global to a territorial tax system would make U.S. rules more internationally competitive and unlock an estimated $2.1 trillion in stranded profits held abroad by U.S. multinationals. Our tax code is also biased, favoring consumption over saving (through high capital gains and dividends taxes, high estate taxes and high progressive income taxes). Furthermore, double taxation of corporate profits discourages firms from electing the C corporation structure that has wider access to capital markets.”

The continuing problems of slow-to-no growth, and high unemployment particularly in middle-class jobs could be resolved by a lessening of the heavy hand of government in areas such as business regulation and taxation. It is a step urgently required by the American economy.