US jobless rate at four-year high

[emilyg]

The US unemployment rate climbed to 5.7% in July official figures show, its highest in more than four years.

Firms cut workers for a seventh month in a row, but the losses were fewer than analysts had been expecting.

The economy lost 51,000 non-farm jobs the US Labor Department said, the same as the newly-revised figure for June, when unemployment was at 5.5%.

Economists had been expecting about 75,000 jobs to go, but said July's data still indicated the economy was weak.

It's not a good number but it's not as bad as expected

Marc Pado, Cantor Fitzgerald.

US companies
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7537463.stm

[Frances]

1. And McCain runs an ad that says Obama is like Moses

Guess that was the only way to take the focus off the economy

[whistle]

2. Once again the job loses are under reported and in a few months will be adjusted

...upward when real figures are available.

There are the underemployed who must take part-time work or jobs outside of their field. Don't forget the uncounted unemployed who withdrew from the job market as well. So real unemployment is much closer to double the official rate or 11% to 15%

[readmoreoften]

3. Jobs outside their field? I don't know a single person with a job in their field.

My partner has a degree in film production with extensive experience in set management, budgeting, directing, pre and post-production, with film credits and a whole lot of festival experience. She works at Starbucks $7 an hour, 24 hours a week and whatever part-time work she can get.

Another friend. Masters in photography earned 4 years ago. Job? Waitress. Can't get a job.

Another. MFA. Almost 40 years old. Gave up after making $28K a year as the "director" of one of those national for-profit tutoring centers to be a stay at home mom. She got sick of working 60 hours a week for no pay. I think she does some low pay part time job.

Mother-in-Law: managed the family electronics company for 30 years. Company went under and for 5 years she tried to find work, then after being refused a waittressing job at Shoneys, she gave up.

Another young friend recently complained to me that she has the same $10 an our toy store job she did in college, where she studied biochemistry. She said she was shocked at how difficult it is to find even an entry level job in one's field.

Those I do know who work in their fields are horribly underpaid, many living under the poverty level. I had an NYU adjunct professor recently write me about how she was living off of a bunch of peanut butter a mutual friend left her 2 years ago. When I worked there I remember days where I had to choose between eating lunch or making photocopies for my students (the department wanted us to pay for our own photocopies and materials out of our $1000 a month salaries.)

All women, though.

[whistle]

4. Well you just made the point I was trying to say with a real live example

...thank you for that outline and it clearly demonstrates eight years of republican trickle down our legs economic policy failure.

I'm sure that millions of other examples could and must be documented to show that republicans in goivernment are the problem.

[Corgigal]

5. This woman is looking for a job

been looking for months now. It's amazing how many people are showing up for this positions of course, I still haven't been employed.
Thankfully I have my little work at home, data job but it's not enough.