The Domino Effect Between Housing & Jobs

Good infographic on "how a housing crisis becomes a jobs crisis" from Tim Logan of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.   

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/94/c94dba1e-e692-11e0-9557-0019bb30f31a/4e7df2c10c730.pdf.pdf

"...The purchase of a house sets off a long chain of events.  The money spent to buy it and to live in it ripples through the economy, creating jobs. From a locksmith on Main Street to an investment banker on Wall Street, furniture factories to City Hall, people earn a living off that one transaction."

"We’re now experiencing what happens when people don’t buy houses.  Home sales in St. Louis have fallen by nearly one-third since before the recession. And the inability to change that has played a major role in an ongoing jobs crisis. Housing and jobs have become so intertwined that many experts say we will never enjoy a broad recovery until the housing market picks up. But without jobs, it’s hard to see how people can

start building and buying houses."

Posted by Chuck Bell at 7:15 AM    

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US Mayors: 'Bring These War Dollars Home to Meet Vital Human Needs'

US Mayors: 'Bring These War Dollars Home to Meet Vital Human Needs' | The Nation

by John Nichols, 6/21/11

"...When Pendleton, South Carolina, Mayor Randy Hayes rose to address the question of whether the US Conference of Mayors should back an antiwar resolution urging the president and Congress to “speed up the ending” of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the assumption might have been that he would speak in opposition. Instead, the self-described mayor of a “military town” argued that the resolution was very restrained—in that it didn’t call for immediate withdrawal—and suggested that most mayors would recognize the merit of the argument for redirecting money for military adventures abroad to meeting needs at home.

Hayes was right. The mayors voted overwhelmingly Monday for the resolution, which urges President Obama and Congress to “bring these war dollars home to meet vital human needs, promote job creation, rebuild our infrastructure, aid municipal and state governments, and develop a new economy based upon renewable, sustainable energy, and reduce the national debt.”

The resolution, which Code Pink and other antiwar groups campaigned for, was sponsored by a group of progressive mayors from traditionally liberal cities, including R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis; David Coss of Santa Fe; Dave Norris from Charlottesville, Virginia; and Carolyn Peterson of Ithaca, New York."

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Posted by Chuck Bell at 4:02 AM    

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$50 billion Obama Infrastructure plan

Infrastructure - NYTimes.com:

Paul Krugman

September 7, 2010, 5:30 AM

Infrastructure

Some bleary-eyed thoughts from Japan on the reported administration proposal for $50 billion in new spending:

1. It’s a good idea
2. It’s much too small
3. It won’t pass anyway — which makes you wonder why the administration didn’t propose a bigger plan, so as to at least make the point that the other party is standing in the way of much needed repair to our roads, ports, sewers, and more– not to mention creating jobs. Once again, they’re striking right at the capillaries.

"...[T]here’s a pretty good argument to be made that we are, in fact, starved for public goods in this country, so that it would actually be a good idea to shift some resources to public goods production even if we were at full employment; in that case, we should definitely give priority to public goods when trying to put unemployed resources to work."

Posted by Chuck Bell at 4:37 AM    

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Is Long-Term Unemployment America’s Future?

Nice piece by Terrence Heath, cross-posted from AlterNet, on the folly of "jobless recovery."

Is Long-Term Unemployment America’s Future? SpeakEasy:

"Like tea party activists and some of their fellow conservatives, Congress’ reckless inattention to the deficit makes me concerned for my children’s future and the kind of economy they will inherit if indifference continues. It’s not because Congress is spending too much. It’s because Congress is investing far too little where it’s needed most, to do what the private sector can’t right now — create jobs. The alternative is long-term unemployment, for a long, long time — and all its attendant consequences.

When I look at the current reality of long-term unemployment and the appalling failure of our elected officials to do anything about it — despite having ready options that might begin to offer some relief — I fear I’m looking at my children’s’ future, and that of millions of our children. As parent who’s already doing all I can, I’m asking: Why doesn’t somebody do something?"

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See also The Jobs Deficit and the Breaking Point Part 1 and Part 2

Posted by Chuck Bell at 7:19 AM    

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Calls for Stimulus Yield to Deficit Concerns - NYTimes.com

If you're looking for a righteous cause where you can be a gadfly, instigator and inveterate underdog, arguing for jobs in the face of deficit hawkery should prove to be a great choice.

It will be right up there, apparently, with the idea that America should have a responsible energy policy that reliably reduces carbon emissions.

And maybe the equally ridiculous ideas that we can prevent a double-dip recession and avoid catastrophic cuts in state and local government budgets, and oh yes, solve the foreclosure crisis.

As Mark Twain once said, "What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know, it's what we know for sure that just ain't so..."

Calls for Stimulus Yield to Deficit Concerns - NYTimes.com

By DAVID E. SANGER and SEWELL CHAN

Published: June 8, 2010

WASHINGTON — At a moment when many economists warn that the American economic recovery is likely to be imperiled by prolonged high unemployment and slow growth, President Obama is discovering that the tools available to him last year — a big economic stimulus and action by the Federal Reserve — are both now politically untenable.

The mood in both parties of Congress has turned decidedly anti-deficit, meaning that the job-creation programs once favored by the White House and Democratic leaders in Congress have been cut back, then cut again. It is a measure of the mood that Mr. Obama on Tuesday hailed an initiative by his administration to cut the budgets of most major government agencies by 5 percent, at a time when conventional theory would call for more government spending to lift the economy.

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Posted by Chuck Bell at 6:36 AM    

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J-O-Bs should come before GDP

J-O-Bs should come before GDP - - POLITICO.com

Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.) writes in a 12/03/09 op-ed:

"...First, we should pass Chairman Jim Oberstar’s Surface Transportation Authorization Act. This legislation represents an important investment in our crumbling infrastructure and will create or sustain 6 million jobs. The original economic recovery package contained too little infrastructure spending, a tried and tested job creator. Here is our chance to rectify that error."

"Second, I intend to introduce the New Deal for a New Economy Act (H.R. 4290), legislation that creates a hybrid of Roosevelt’s WPA and an expanded version of the Conservation Corps of the 1970s. This bill will authorize a multiyear grant program administered by the Department of Labor to provide funding for the creation of resource management positions on federal and state lands, public works projects on the state and local level, and public interest work with community-based nonprofit organizations. This legislation would provide a lifeline to the many Americans who find themselves out of work and out of hope... "

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Posted by Chuck Bell at 7:06 PM    

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Public Opinion Snapshot: The Public's Priorities: Jobs vs. the Deficit

Public Opinion Snapshot: The Public's Priorities: Jobs vs. the Deficit
By Ruy Teixeira | January 4, 2010
cross-posted from the Center for American Progress

"...There is no question that the public has become more sensitive to the deficit in the last year. This partly reflects the fact that the deficit has grown and the public doesn’t like deficits. But it also reflects a feeling among many that government spending has not been effective since the economy remains so weak."

"In light of these views, it’s interesting to note that the public’s deficit sensitivity does not translate into a view that deficit reduction is a more important priority than jobs and the economy. In a mid-December CNN poll, the public was asked what should be more important for the Obama administration—reducing the deficit even if that slowed down economic recovery or stimulating economic recovery even if that meant less deficit reduction. By 57-40, the public chose stimulating economic recovery...."

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Posted by Chuck Bell at 8:57 AM    

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Low-Wage Workers Make Up 31% of NYC Workforce

From the Center for an Urban Future

Low-Wage Jobs

This edition of New York by the Numbers shows that low- wage workers make up 31 percent of the city's adult workforce. The Bronx has the highest share of low-wage workers (42 percent), but Queens (with 34 percent of the adult workforce in low-wage positions) and Brooklyn (32 percent) aren't too far behind. The share of low-wage workers—as we define it, those making less than $11.54 an hour or $24,003 a year—is slightly lower in Staten Island (23 percent) and Manhattan (22 percent).

According to the analysis, the alarmingly high number of low-wage workers in the Bronx helps explain why Bronx residents and politicians recently opposed a plan for a new shopping mall at the Kingsbridge Armory that did not guarantee living wages to retail workers there.

Click here to read the study.

Posted by Chuck Bell at 1:19 PM    

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Organize and Build Community Power for Direct Public Job Creation!!

Cross posted from http://www.jobsconference.org/

December 3, 2009

Dear Jobs Advocate,

Our November 13-14 National Conference to Create Living Wage Jobs, Meet Human Needs and Sustain the Environment greatly exceeded our expectations. Over 125 attendees came representing over 50 organizations.

The diversity of attendees was as impressive as their numbers. People came from Atlanta, Chicago, California and many points in between. Participating organizations spanned the broad range of constituencies we need to mobilize to achieve the conference goals of jobs for all at a living wage. The religious community, labor, community non-profits and employment policy experts all participated. The passion that the speakers, panelists and audience members expressed at the conference was contagious.

Equally striking to us was the widespread agreement on the essential components of a jobs program: that besides promoting a decent, living wage job for all who want to work, it should be long-term, address the shortfall of social investment and the lack of the human services needed to build a good society, and include a significant role for the public sector.

So, where do we go from here? We -- and attendees like you -- have lots of ideas. There have been suggestions that similar events be held in other parts of the country so that those who came to NYC can kindle the excitement about a jobs program in their own region. Others are urging development of legislative proposals as the basis of a national political campaign.

Today, December 3, President Obama is holding a jobs summit at the White House that offers an opportunity to advance the jobs agenda into the national policy debate And there is talk of a mass mobilization for jobs in D.C. sometime in late 2010 or early 2011.All of these – and more – ideas are good ones.

We are excited by the willingness of so many to stay involved on this issue. We are writing to ask if you would continue to work with us on the goal of achieving living wage jobs for all of our people. We envision an ongoing grassroots and national advocacy network, led by a Continuation Committee representing the array of groups and constituencies that were with us in NYC.

This Continuation Committee would have several functions:

Communication & Coordination -- the Continuation Committee will provide a vehicle for sharing information among us on the wide range of local and state initiatives on jobs, and provide a means to coordinate between different locales to increase the impact of actions that have been initiated in one place and that others find useful.

Organizing and Outreach – The Committee would also work to recruit additional religious, labor, community and policy organizations to form an ongoing national advocacy network that supports public job creation and social investment.

Tools Development and Resource Center -- The Continuation Committee would also lead efforts to compile resources resources and ideas that could be drawn upon by groups around the country in their work. A variety of proposals were made to carry out local "demonstration projects" to raise the visibility of the jobs crisis and engage community members. We can create and disseminate simple tools such as local unemployment report cards, resolutions for state and local legislatures, guides to organizing community hearings and "truth commissions," community jobs needs assessments, etc.

Strategy Development, Resource Mobilization, and Organizing -- Finally, and most ambitiously, the Committee could be charged with developing a political strategy around the living wage jobs for all agenda, and developing a political campaign on this issue that is strong and vibrant at the grassroots, but fully national in its scope. The committee will also need to secure funding and mobilize resources to support the proposed organizing campaign, and ensure we are able to do broad outreach to the many affected communities and groups who are concerned about jobs issues.

We have revised our Conference Call to Action to accommodate the new, ongoing organizing focus outlined above.

We therefore have four requests:

1. Will you please endorse the revised Call to Action, so we may continue to list your name/organization as a supporter of the proposed advocacy network?

2. Please indicate whether you would be willing to serve on the network’s Continuation Committee and/or Steering Group, and any particular areas you can help with, such as organizing and outreach, convening local or regional meetings or conferences, public policy analysis, and/or fundraising.

3. Please recommend 2-3 other organizations or individuals you think should be invited to endorse the Call to Action and join the network.

4. Please share any additional thoughts and ideas that you have for how we can follow up on the conference, and continue momentum toward development of a powerful social movement for economic renewal. (NOTE: if you have additional drafting suggestions or recommendations for additional points or policy recommendations to include in the Call to Action, please let us know that as well.)

In solidarity,

Bill Barclay, Chicago Political Economy Group
Chuck Bell, Conference Chair, and Vice Chair, National Jobs for All Coalition
Larry Bresler, Executive Director, Poor Peoples Economic Human Rights Campaign*
Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, Senior Pastor Emeritus, Riverside Church of New York, Pres., Healing of the Nations Foundation
Barbara George, Healing of the Nations Foundation
Gertrude Schaffner Goldberg, Chair, National Jobs for All Coalition
Logan Martinez, Miami Valley Full Employment Council/Organize Ohio (Dayton, OH)
Bill Quigley, Legal Director, Center for Constitutional Rights
Annie Rawlings, Associate Executive Presbyter for Social Witness, Presbytery of New York City* Elce Redmond, Organizer, South Austin Community Coalition (Chicago, IL)
Melvin Rothenberg, Chicago Political Economy Group
Rev. Marcel Welty (New York, NY)

*Organization listed for identification purposes only

Please Endorse the Call to Action by sending your name, affilliation and contact information to JobsConference@njfac.org

Posted by Chuck Bell at 6:59 AM    

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Please Endorse the Revised Call to Action, and Join Our Organizing Network!!

Cross posted from www.JobsConference.org

National Network to Create Living Wage Jobs for All, Meet Human Needs & Sustain the Environment [ working name ]

CALL TO ACTION [ Updated 12/04/09]

Our country is in the throes of an economic crisis—the most severe since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Unemployment is at the disaster level. And even before the onset of our current, deep recession, chronic unemployment, low and stagnant wages, myriad unmet needs and unprecedented environmental degradation were endemic.

Current Job Crisis

* Nearly 31 million workers fully or partially jobless (October 2009)
* Most rapid job less of any downturn -- and the highest percentage of long-term unemployed workers --since the Great Depression
* 8 million fewer jobs in the U.S. economy since the onset of the recession.
* High unemployment expected to persist, even if the economy "recovers."
* Many of the long-term unemployed will lose benefits, their savings, their homes and more

Weak Stimulus

By the Administration’s own estimate, the economic stimulus package enacted in February 2009 will only make up for a fraction of the millions of jobs lost since the recession began. Nor will the stimulus stem the continuing job hemorrhage.

The health and well-being of workers and communities suffer greatly when there is inadequate availability of living wage jobs. In addition, the current official high unemployment rate of over 10% is exceedingly costly to the economy as a whole, costing $1 trillion or more annually in output of goods and services. As former Nobel Prize winner Robert Eisner has pointed out, a nation that tolerates high levels of unemployment is "literally throwing away its potential output."

The "Good Old Days"

Even before the recent economic meltdown, 5 million or more women and men were officially jobless; hidden unemployment afflicted many millions more; and poverty wages were rampant. Inequality reigned, our infrastructure was crumbling, and human services fell far short of needs. We must not go back to those "Good Old Days." Instead, we should be guided by President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933): "We cannot be content, no matter how high the general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people … is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure."

Real Reform

Now is the time to organize and mobilize to create a just economy.

We call for:

Establishment of a long-term, permanent federal jobs program, leading to the legal right to a living wage job.

Creation of millions of new, publicly-financed living-wage jobs in education and human services, clean energy and environmental conservation, and infrastructure development and repair.

Priority measures to target new jobs to employ structurally unemployed and underemployed workers, including people living in economically depressed communities, young people, people of color, people with disabilities, ex-offenders, and immigrants, among others.

Guaranteed income support for those who are unemployed, unable to work, and/or doing vital work in the home (including extension of unemployment benefits, an end to TANF time limits, and support for single adults living without adequate income)

Continuation and expansion of federal assistance to ailing state governments, to preserve essential services and prevent further job loss in local communities.

Comprehensive protection of workers’ labor and social rights, including the right to organize, form trade unions and bargain collectively; the right to equal opportunity, with vigorous enforcement of laws and regulations relating to unfair discrimination in hiring and employment against women, people of color and other minorities; worker safety and health; rights to paid sick leave and vacations; and decent working conditions and quality of work life, including autonomy on the job.

Development of industrial and trade policies to promote comprehensive recovery of the manufacturing and services sectors, and other, complementary policies to promote full employment, community economic stability, environmental sustainability, and a fair global economic system.

Fair financing for economic renewal through 1) discontinuing or not renewing the Bush-era tax cuts for wealthy taxpayers; 2) reducing military spending to genuine defense needs, and redirecting the savings to the civilian economy 3) enacting a financial speculation tax on short-term securities transactions; and 4) recapturing federal revenue as more Americans return to work and pay taxes, and the devastating financial and social costs of unemployment are avoided.

Comprehensive measures to ensure public accountability and transparency for the jobs program and public investments, including 1) racial, gender, geographic and social equity in program spending and results and 2) establishment of a national employment accounting office to measure the impact and benefits.

To achieve these goals, we will work together to

1. Document unmet public needs for jobs, infrastructure and public services
2. Inform and educate our communities about those needs, and how can they be addressed through our proposed program
3. Organize a strong, vibrant social movement to inspire grassroots action and arouse the conscience of the public
4. Encourage policy organizations to support this program, and related initiatives to expand availability of living wage jobs, and protect worker rights
5. Develop an effective national advocacy network by reaching out to a wide range of labor, religious, nonprofit and community organizations, and building coalitions and alliances
6. Mobilize regional and national demonstrations in support of this program
7. Design and advocate comprehensive federal legislation to achieve the right to employment at living wages, and develop alliances with members of Congress and other public officials who will support these measures
8. Provide ongoing public oversight of the development and implementation of our proposed program

YES!! I/we endorse the Call to Action and Join the Network to Create Living-Wage Jobs for All, Meet Human Needs, & Sustain the Environment

____ Individual Endorsement

___ List organization for affiliation only
___ Do not list organization

____ Organizational Endorsement

Name:____________________________________________

Organizational Affiliation:_______________________________

Address:__________________________________________

City/State/ZIP:_____________________________________

Phone:___________________________________________

Email:____________________________________________

Web Site:_________________________________________


_____ YES, I would be willing to serve on the Continuation Committee

_____ YES, I would be willing to serve on the Continuation’s Committee’s Steering Group

_____ YES, I would be willing to serve on a committee or workgroup on:

__________________________________________________


______Please send the Call to Action to the following individuals/organizations:

[ list organizations and contact information ]

Please return to: JobsConference@njfac.org

Conference Organizing Committee
c/o National Jobs for All Coalition / CIPA
777 United Nations Plaza, Suite 3C
New York, NY 10017

Phone: 212-972-9879
Fax: 212-972-9878

Web: http://www.jobsconference.org/
Email: JobsConference@njfac.org

Posted by Chuck Bell at 6:51 AM    

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The truth about jobs that no one wants to tell

The truth about jobs that no one wants to tell

If the feds don't spend money to put people back to work, the economy won't recover and politics will get uglier

By Robert Reich
Salon, Oct. 2, 2009

"...Let me say this as clearly and forcefully as I can: The federal government should be spending even more than it already is on roads and bridges and schools and parks and everything else we need. It should make up for cutbacks at the state level, and then some. This is the only way to put Americans back to work. We did it during the Depression. It was called the WPA."

"Yes, I know. Our government is already deep in debt. But let me tell you something: When one out of six Americans is unemployed or underemployed, this is no time to worry about the debt..."


Read rest of article

Posted by Chuck Bell at 8:21 AM    

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Unemployment climbs again in August, 216,000 net jobs lost

AUGUST 2009 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA*
(U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)
OFFICIAL UNEMPLOYMENT: 9.7% [Analysis]

A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 9.6 million, and the jobless rate was 6.2 percent. [BLS]

White 8.9%
African American 15.1%
Hispanic 13.0%
Asian** 7.5%

Men 20 years and over 10.1%
Women 20 years and over 7.6%
Teen-agers (16-19 years) 25.5%
Black teens 34.7%
Officially unemployed 14.9 million

HIDDEN UNEMPLOYMENT

Working part-time because can't find a full-time job:
9.1 million

People who want jobs but are not looking so are not counted in official statistics (of which about 2.3 million** searched for work during the prior 12 months and were available for work during the reference week.)
5.6 million

Total: 29.6 million (18.5% of the labor force)

Source: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

*See Uncommon Sense #4 for an explanation of the unemployment measures.
**Not seasonally adjusted.

In addition, millions more were working full-time, year-round, yet earned less than the official poverty level for a family of four. In 2007, the latest year available, that number was 17.6 million, 16.2 percent of full-time workers (estimated from Current Population Survey, Bur. of the Census, 2008).

In June, 2009, the latest month available, the number of job openings was only 2.6 million, according to the BLS, Job Openings andLabor Turnover Estimates, August 12, 2009.+ Thus there are more than 11 job-wanters for each available job.[Numbers are not comparable with previous months as methods have been revised.]

Mass layoffs: "Employers initiated 2,994 mass layoff events in the second quarter of 2009 that resulted in the separation of 534,881 workers from their jobs for at least 31 days, according to preliminary figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both the numbers of extended mass layoff events and associated separations were record highs for a second quarter (with data availableback to 1995).

Read rest of article

Analysis: "The slower rate of job loss is the result of further moderation in the pace of job loss in the sectors that have been the biggest job losers. Construction lost 65,000 jobs in August, down from 119,000 per month between October and March. Most of this job loss is now coming from the non-residential sector. This is not surprising since residential construction has stabilized in the last couple of months, while a glut in the non-residential market is leading to a sharp contraction in this sector. Stimulus-related jobs will be an offsetting factor..... This report, like the prior three reports, shows a slowing pace of job loss. It is important to recognize that this rate of job loss, especially when adding in the upward revisions, would be considered disastrous at any other time. The labor market is still deteriorating, albeit less rapidly." Baker, CEPR, 9/4/09

"The good news is that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is providing a significant boost to the labor market. Over the last three months, the labor market has shed an average of 318,000 jobs per month. By comparison, in the first quarter of this year, the labor market shed an average of nearly 700,000 jobs per month. The ARRA is likely saving or creating between 200,000 and 250,000 jobs a month, for a total of around 1.2 million saved or created since its implementation. ...To keep up with population growth, the economy needs to add approximately 127,000 jobs every month, which translates into 2.5 million jobs over the 20 months of the recession. This means the labor market is currently 9.4 million jobs below where it would need to be to maintain a pre-recession unemployment rate. " Jobs Picture, Shierholz, EPI, 9/4/09

"Focusing on the long-term unemployed is urgent because the challenges of those out of work remain significant—more so than in any prior recession. Once workers lose their job, it continues to be extremely difficult to get back into the workforce. The typical worker is now spending 15.4 weeks unemployed, which means that one-half of workers are finding a job in less time, but one-half are taking longer—often much longer—to find a new job." CAP Boushey, 9/4/09

Posted by Chuck Bell at 8:44 PM    

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Schools must lead healthy foods effort

Here's a smart, inspired idea to create some jobs through a National Culinary Corps to improve school meals for kids.

However, we have a friendly amendment. If the National Culinary Corps is established, workers should get real Living Wage pay, and not Americorps stipend wages. Better to cook on your feet, then beg on your knees.

We also applaud the loan forgiveness idea, as many students have been enticed to pay top dollar for culinary schools and colleges, only to be bitterly disappointed with low wages and crappy working conditions. That would not fly in a fair economy.

From the San Francisco Chronicle

Schools must lead healthy foods effort
By Ann Cooper,Beth Collins
Sunday, August 30, 2009

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have stated that of the children born in the year 2000, 1 out of 3 Caucasians and 2 out of 3 African Americans and Hispanics will contract diabetes in their lifetimes. As a result, that generation will be the first in our country's history to die at a younger age than their parents. Time magazine reported recently that as a nation we are spending more than $147 billion a year on diet-related illness, much of it attributable to diabetes and much of that preventable."

"Together these facts are the health care crisis of our lifetime."

"As a nation we have in large part stopped cooking in our homes, and this is no different in our schools. Over the decades that we've been reheating as opposed to cooking, we've lost much of our culinary skills, which means that we need to teach our school food-service workers to cook again."

"Switching from chicken nuggets and Tater Tots to roast chicken and roast potatoes means that we need culinary 'boot camps' to train our cooks and perhaps a National Culinary Corps, based on AmeriCorps, where culinary students can work off their student loans by cooking in schools."

Ann Cooper and Beth Collins are partners in the Food Family Farming Foundation and creators of the Lunch Box Project. Contact them at http://www.foodfamilyfarming.org/ and http://www.thelunchbox.org/. Contact us at forum@sfchronicle.com.

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Posted by Chuck Bell at 8:35 PM    

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Underemployment Surges in Alabama

Underemployment still issue in Wiregrass (Dothan Eagle, Dothan, Alabama, 12/2/08)

A college degree does not guarantee a job. Just ask Ellen Bura. After earning her bachelor of science degree in business administration in December of last year, Bura expected to face some difficulty in her hunt for administration jobs, especially given the country’s economic downturn. She just didn’t expect to be shut out completely.

“I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn’t think it was going to be as hard as it was,” said Bura, 23, who now works as a teller at Regions Bank in Dothan.

“It was hard to even get an interview. I would get letters back saying I’m not qualified and won’t even get an interview, or the position’s been filled.”

Her problem is not an uncommon one.

According to Sam Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, 24.2 percent of full-time working Alabamians are underemployed.

Addy is completing a study on underemployment for the state after tracking underemployment numbers for three years. He defines underemployment as the number of full-time workers whose skills and education are not utilized properly in their current jobs.

Scott Crews, 24, works as a server for Santa Fe Cattle Co. Steakhouse in Troy after graduating last December with a degree in sports and fitness management. He blames his own procrastination and the limitations of his degree for his difficulties finding a job in his field.

“I was not prepared for a job right when I got out, because I was still debating whether to go to grad school, and I didn’t have a job lined up,” Crews said. “I went to a couple of job fairs trying to find a job that I could use my degree for, but not a lot of job fairs have occupations that are related to my major. It’s kind of a new skill, since the major’s only about 10 years old.”

Crews’ story is similar to that of Matt Reynolds, though their degrees are completely unrelated.Reynolds graduated in May 2007 with a bachelor of science degree in biology. He, too, waited until after graduation to begin his job search. He quickly discovered he’d need more school before finding a biology-related job.

“I honestly wasn’t that aggressive (before graduation),” said Reynolds, 26, who now works as a teller at Redstone Federal Credit Union in Huntsville. “I wish I had started earlier. Looking for a job is not a very ego boosting experience. I worked at a restaurant for a while before I found the job I have now. I only applied for science-type jobs, but when I didn’t hear back, I started applying anywhere.”

Addy says underemployment can be caused by an array of issues.

“The major cause of underemployment is the innate productivity growth, because people have the ability to learn,” Addy said. “When people learn at their job, they tend to do things better and quicker, often to maximize their leisure time. Others are underemployed because they live in places where there is a lack of job opportunities.”

“Some are underemployed because of retirement or disability. They adjust to their disability status and become less productive,” he added. “Others are underemployed by choice, because they take part-time jobs, maybe because a spouse takes a really, really good job. Others are forced to be underemployed because of child care and other family care-type situations.”

For some, it comes down to surviving until they can catch a career-related break... read rest of article here

See also: 2007 map of Underemployment in Alabama, Center for Business and Economic Research, University of Alabama

Posted by Chuck Bell at 4:15 PM    

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Economic Policy Institute: Underemployment at 14-year High

Economic Policy Institute Snapshot for October 15, 2008.

Stimulus now! Underemployment at 14-year high

by Nooshin Mahalia

The growing number of underemployed workers is painting a grim picture of the difficulties jobseekers are facing. Underemployment is a more comprehensive measure of labor market slack than headline-grabbing unemployment rates because it also includes part-time workers who want full-time jobs ("involuntarily" part-time workers), and jobless workers who want a job but are not actively seeking employment ("marginally attached" workers).

At 11%, the underemployment rate in September was at its highest in more than 14 years. The underemployed currently includes about 9.5 million unemployed workers, 6.1 million involuntarily part-time workers, and 1.6 million workers only marginally attached to the workforce.1 The fact that one out of every nine U.S. workers is now either unemployed or underemployed is clear evidence of the need for a second stimulus package targeted at job creation.

Posted by Chuck Bell at 6:05 AM    

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College Education No Silver Bullet for Lagging Pay

Here's an interesting editorial from the Treasure Coast Palm, a Florida newspaper, questioning whether college education is really the jobs panacea that it's cracked up to be. Other public policies to increase job opportunities for educated workers, and to boost the lagging incomes of service sector workers.

For all the talk about college being crucial to gainful employment in today’s society, the Bureau of Labor Statistics finds that bachelor’s degrees are no antidote to outsourcing, underemployment and lagging pay. Among 40 occupations on the BLS’ watch list for likely outsourcing are computer programmers, aerospace engineers and microbiologists. Meantime, blue-collar trades people — from truck drivers to plumbers to electricians — are perpetually in demand. And none of these fields requires post-secondary degrees.

Even the education sector itself reflects this dichotomy. Indian River County School district, for example, hired an audio-visual coordinator fresh out of high school and paid him $15,000 more than a beginning teacher with a master’s degree.

None of this is to suggest that higher education isn’t important for the knowledge it imparts. A college degree can enrich life and, in some fields, ensure upward mobility.

But Paul Barton, a senior associate at the Educational Testing Service, poses a provocative question in the title of his report: “How many college graduates does the U.S. labor force really need?”

Barton turns statistical conventions on their head by counting the number of college-educated workers in jobs that do not require such degrees. He found that 60 percent of people in existing jobs have “some college” or post-secondary credential — yet only one in three jobs requires that level of education.

This phenomenon is pervasive in Florida, where service-industry jobs abound. In an article last year, the Orlando Sentinel reported that “a rise in college attendance coupled with downsizing, outsourcing and a shortage of high-paying jobs is bolstering the ranks of the educated poor — people with college degrees who don’t earn above the national poverty line."

Read more at: Bachelor’s degrees not always key to success as outsourcing and lagging pay take their toll - Treasure Coast Palm, Vero Beach/Ft. Pierce Florida, 2/6/08

Posted by Chuck Bell at 7:23 AM    

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