One of the running discussions I have with my friend Mark is about the unemployment numbers and why they don’t reflect what we see with other friends and co-workers. We both know of quite a few people who have stopped looking for work or who have taken part-time jobs to make ends meet. Both of these groups of people are not counted in the unemployment number, however the effect of thier actions does reflect on the actual health of the economy. This running conversation has been going on for years.
This past weekend I read an article on unemployment. The article referenced the U-6 measurement. Whoa. What’s that? So today I did some googleing to find out more on the U-6 measurement.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics actually tracks 6 measures of unemployment. Three of those measure jumped out at me and literally made me think “Here’s the real story….”. The three measures that painted the picture are the U-1, U-3 and U-6.
The average unemployment figure (U-3) for 2011 was 8.9%. 5.3% of the umemployed people could expect to remain unemployed for 4 months or longer (U-1). And in 2011 15.9% of the US workforce was effected by unemployment is some manner (U-6). Yes. Antidotally, this is what I believe the average American is experiencing in the labor market.
What are these measures:
- U-1 -> Unemployed for 15 weeks or longer
- U-2 -> Job loser and person who completed temporary job
- U-3 -> This is the traditional unemployment figure
- U-4 -> Unemployed plus discouraged workers who are no longer lookin
- U-5 -> U-4 plus marginally attached worker
- U-6 -> U-5 plus underemployed workers
Go to the BLS web site to read the definitions yourself.
Why does the U-1, U-3 annd U-6 measures really tell the story?
U-3 is what’s reported in the news everyday. It is the baseline off of which you can ccompare the other two measurements.
There are quite a few guys I know who have been unemployed for months. Thier unemployment has run out. The U-1 measure speaks to these people who have been out for a long time.
There are also a lot of people who have taken jobs outside of thier field or are part-time. These people are technically working, but are underemployed. There are also people who have given up looking for work. In a healthy economy they would be changing jobs or at the very least actively looking for work.
The unemployment averages for 2011:
| U-1 | U-3 | U-6 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | 5.3% | 8.9% | 15.9% |
| NJ | 6.2% | 9.4% | 16.0% |
| NY | 5.0% | 8.1% | 14.3% |
The current unemployment figures for March 2012:
| U-1 | U-3 | U-6 |
|---|---|---|
| 4.6% | 8.2% | 14.5% |
It has been awhile since I could honestly say that something our government is doing has impressed me. I am impressed with the statistics the US Bureau of Labor is providing. These statistics actually parallel what myself and friends perceive to be occuring in the job market.
After two months of using the Droid, I thought I would review the apps that I find the most helpful and fun. First and foremost it is a phone, I’m very happy with the quality of calls and the quality of the built-in speaker. I configured the contacts app when I first got the phone and haven’t thought twice about it. The voice dial app took a little bit of trial and error to find the right phrases to use to quickly get the phone numbers to come up. Of course the voice dial app provides all sorts of examples to help you quickly figure it out, but that would require reading on my part. RTFM – No Way! The messaging and email apps are used through out the day. Occasionally (once per week) I find the email app will stop communicating with Comcast. The quick solution is the Advance Task Killer app. This app will kill off processes running in the background that are consuming battery life while offering nothing in return. As it kills off these background processes, it also causes the email app to fully reload the next time I open it. This is an ok temporary solution until an update is available for the email app. The other two apps I have residing on the middle screen is the Facebook app and The Weather Channel. The Weather Channel app is a must have. I’ve got five different cities entered so with three taps on the screen I can have the current weather for anyone of the cities. One more tap and I have the 10 day forecast.
Saturday it was beautiful here on the Jersey Shore. The temp was in the 70’s with blue sky. I decided to work on the one Jetski. I still have the engine apart because of the cracked water jacket. I have two new water jackets with the exhaust manifold all ready to go on. Cylinders are all honed. I cut the rave exhaust valves to clear the pistons. Everything was all set.