Here it is folks! The true state of the economy. We're in a depression.

[Robin Hood]

This past week Oregon's unemployment numbers went from 7.7% to 7.1%. They trotted out some dummy for the news cameras from the unemployment office this past week, to declare that the recession appears to be over. I have been looking for work off and on for three years now, and I have watched the jobs announcement pages shrink and shrink, month by month.

I live in the Portland Oregon Metro area. There are about 1 1/2 million people in this area. My local paper(The Oregonian)updates their on line job announcements at around 1:AM every morning.

This is the Sunday morning paper. The time of the week when the majority of all jobs are listed for the week. Remember that the Portland Oregon Metro area is the most populace place in Oregon.

I am up late yet again and this Sunday mornings paper is just awful. There are virtually no jobs. See for your self. The true barometer of the economy.

http://www.oregonlive.com/jobs/quicksearch

Here's the run down.
Categories #jobs
Advertising/marketing. 1
Civil Service. 0
Communications. 0
Computers/High technology. 41
Domestic help/in-home care. 0
Education/training employment. 0
Engineering. 3
Finance/Insurance. 9
Health care/Social services. 71
Hospitality & Food services. 25
Human resources. 0
Legal. 0
Manufacturing. 1
Office employment. 1
Other jobs. 18
Part time -work from home. 1
Sales/Retail. 8
Sciences. 1
Trades. 8
Transportation. +2

The sudden drop in Oregon's unemployment from 7.7% to 7.1 was not due because of people gaining employment. It was due to people losing their un-employment benefits. And this is why the Republicans don't want to extend un-employment benefits because it tells some of the truth about Bush's real economy.

This is the barometer for the State of our country's economy, i am the true barometer, and I am here to tell you that when Kerry gets elected we will find out the truth about Bush's economy. I believe the truth is that we are in a full blown depression not a jobless recovery from a recession.

I am so dis-heartened and tired. I can't afford four more years of this. Please....Please vote these lying crooks out of office so I and my family don't have to go homeless. We have just about used up our savings from the Clinton years.

I have an interview on Monday for a job working for the State's mental health hospital as a mental health tech. I talked to their HR and they said that they got an overwhelming response to their ad, I bet they did. I am qualified but I am not getting my hopes up.

I am tired of being disappointed. Hell, I am just plain tired.

If you read it this far, thanks for listening.

[aldian159]

1. Good stuff

the post, not your lack of a job.

Thanks for posting.

[Robin Hood]

2. Thanks.

Unfortunately for me going back to working in mental health takes me backwards ten years. but I will be happy to get this if i get it, despite the hour long commute.

[xchrom]

3. good lord -- that is so awful

it's the same here in the bay area -- and then to make matters worse the news here is how companies in countries like india are becoming more aggressive in competing for silicon valley jobs.
well i certainly wish you the very, very best. this should not be happening to our country.

[mhr]

4. Unemployed For 45 Months In Dallas, TX

Brother can you spare a dime?

[patricia92243]

5. During Bush, Sr's depression, we needed a part-time receptionist - no

benefits - $5.00 an hour. We had about 150 applicants. That was for a small city. It is worse now :(

[Jim__]

7. Kerry needs to make the unemployment numbers quite clear

Under Poppy:

1989 5.3
1990 5.6
1991 6.8
1992 7.5%

Under Clinton:

1993 6.9
1994 6.1
1995 5.6
1996 5.4
1997 4.9
1998 4.5
1999 4.2
2000 4.0

And under junior:

2001 4.8%
2002 5.8

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104719.html

The bush's rely on a rich man's economic ideology. Thye have no understanding of the plight of working class Americans.

[Vitruvius]

8. Oh, the Bu$hes DO understand the plight of working class Americans -- and

and they REVEL in it. With glee. Sociopaths like Bu$h enjoy hurting others. And they do it with a smirk on their rich-boy face.

And I hope we clean their clock come November. And I hope Kerry has the GUTS to prosecute as many of them as possible for their numerous crimes.

[calimary]

72. They probably revel in it because it means more people who'll see the Army

as the only place left to go. Private Jessica Lynch, after all, said that was the only reason SHE enlisted.

I, too, hope we clean their clocks in November.

BUT NOW IS NO TIME TO LET OUR GUARD DOWN!

All you folks who are still unemployed - MAN! My heart goes out to you! The rest of us should do EVERYTHING DAMNED THING WE CAN THINK OF to bring about a bush defeat in November. EVERYTHING!! NOTE MY SIG LINE, FOR ONE. It's FREE!

But that's only one prong of the attack. We can't stop there.

For another, go to www.takebackthemedia.com - and pick - oh, say, just three or four large media outlets. Then, EMAIL THEM. Or, better yet, write a letter. Or send a postcard - it's cheaper! Besides, everyone who handles it will read your message as it moves across the country toward the networks. LET THEM KNOW THIS REGIME IS A BUNCH OF LIARS AND CROOKS, JUST LIKE JOHN KERRY SAID THEY WERE. LET THEM KNOW THEY MUST START CONFRONTING THE BUSHIES IN THEIR COVERAGE!!!

Believe me, PLEASE!! You can bet solid cash on the fact that every republi-CON group and think-tank, from the machinery of the Heritage Foundation to the Cato Institute, and from the Limbaugh dittoheads to the freepers and Pox News viewers, plus Rove's own machinery, is geared toward manipulating the media. They have solid groups of people who can be martialed to write, email, fax, and call, to complain whenever bush is even slightly negatively covered. They call, write letters to the editor, send faxes and emails, and make themselves heard in groups. The editors and news managers and executive producers and advertisers pay attention to this, and respond accordingly. Dan Rather, in Europe about a year and a half ago, told the BBC (I THINK) that if the American media asked tough questions, they'd be - as he put it - "necklaced."

THAT MEANS WE JUST ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, HAVE TO RESPOND!!! WE HAVE TO!!! WE HAVE TO LET THE POWERS THAT BE - ALL OF THEM - KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT ACCEPTABLE, THAT BUSH AND CO. ARE LIARS, AND WE DO NOT SUPPORT ANYTHING THEY'RE UP TO!!!

I'm sorry to shout, but I cannot take hearing any more of the misery of my fellow Americans who are searching in vain for jobs and have families to feed and car payments and insurance payments and pill prescription payments and food payments and heating bills and gasoline bills to cover, and have no jobs, and no hope. My heart is breaking!!! WE HAVE TO TAKE IT UPON OURSELVES TO HELP THEM!!! The best, and frankly ONLY way to make it stop is to STOP THE BUSH REGIME!!!

Fellow DUers, if you care about your friends here on this board, and the other folks out there whose backs are against the wall, and have nothing but depression and desolation to look forward to, while the jobs dry up and the safety nets are cut, and only the wealthy who are already well-taken-care-of just keep getting more and more ad all of our expense, PLEASE, DAMMIT, DO SOMETHING!

Send Kerry a contribution, those of you/us who can afford to. Send just even a dollar more on behalf of some of our brothers and sisters here who can't!!!! Send a little extra to MoveOn.org, if you can! It's our country, our future, our children, our friends, colleagues and family members whose welfare is at stake. And ours, too. We ALL have to do this!

[RainDog]

19. Krugman disagrees with those numbers for *

"All Bush has to show for three years of supposed job-creation policies is a mountain of debt"

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/12/opinion/12KRUG.html?hp

No More Excuses on Jobs

By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: March 12, 2004

...(Bush says) the real (job) situation is much better than you're hearing ...the establishment survey doesn't count jobs created by new businesses; not so. The bureau knows what it's doing — conservative commentators are raising objections only because they don't like the facts.

And even the less reliable household survey paints a bleak picture of an economy in which jobs have lagged far behind population growth. The fraction of adults who say they are employed fell steeply between early 2001 and the summer of 2003, and has stagnated since then.

But wait — hasn't the unemployment rate fallen since last summer? Yes, but that's entirely the result of people dropping out of the labor force. Even if you're out of work, you're not counted as unemployed unless you're actively looking for a job.

We don't know why so many people have stopped looking for jobs, but it probably has something to do with the fact that jobs are so hard to find: 40 percent of the unemployed have been out of work more than 15 weeks, a 20-year record. In any case, the administration should feel grateful that so many people have dropped out.

As the Economic Policy Institute points out, if they hadn't dropped out, the official unemployment rate would be an eye-popping 7.4 percent, not a politically spinnable 5.6 percent.

In short, things aren't as bad as they seem; they're worse. But should we blame the Bush administration? Yes — because it refuses to learn from experience.<snip>

[0007]

43. I agree!

[brokensymmetry]

6. Kick!

:kick:

[Nobody]

9. For one IT job there are 400+ applications

I feel for the new graduates looking for entry level jobs. Those are getting snapped up by people with years of experience in other fields. My temp job is one of those entry level jobs, but if you talk to people, about half the department is out of work IT people.

Wait till an IT opening comes along. There is going to be a ton of internal applicants going for it.

[MidwestMomma]

21. One good reason for my daughter to do graduate work

I'm hoping by the time she gets out of school in several years that we'll have a new adminstration and the economy will have turned around. Of course, if we don't get Bush out, she may end up getting drafted. I think anything is possible with the cabal.

[laylah]

37. I have

two daughters in college. Your comment about your daughter maybe getting drafted has crossed my mind about my own girls...let me tell you, OVER MY DEAD BODY will they get my children. They will have to go through me...which, of course, the killing bastards would probably do. I will NEVER make it easy for anyone, and I mean ANYONE to take my daughters (or sons if I had any) against their will, and against their will a draft would be! :mad: :mad: :mad:

That said (sorry about the rant but I really am scared of that happening!), I have been out of work for almost a year here in the QC area. The "help wanted" ads continue to shrink on a daily basis...unless you want to be in sales or an otr truck driver.

Jenn

Edited to add: Sorry about your plight, LG. Hang in there and know that you aren't alone :grouphug:

[MidwestMomma]

51. I share your sentiments about the draft

I hope it doesn't come to that either.

It's so sad to see so many people responding to this thread stating their umemployment worries and troubles. But then again, it's probably all part of the plan. If we're all worried about the basic necessities of life, maybe we won't notice things like diminished civil liberties, endless war, etc....

Thanks to LG for starting this thread and for everyone sharing their stories. I hope a year from now we're all sharing different happier stories. Peace.

[Lindacooks]

45. That's the most amazing thing about this depression

There are hundreds of applicants for each job; literally hundreds. And the education and experience level of those applicants is amazing.

My husband has been out of work for almost 10 months now, thanks directly to Repukes. In fact, I don't know anybody whose job loss is MORE directly tied to Repukes in Minnesota. He's applied for hundreds of jobs, and has actually had interviews once or twice a week for the last 10 months. But he always comes in second or third because the other person has a Ph.D. or is an attorney or has some other incredible qualification.

[The Backlash Cometh]

10. And yet we have a brother-in-law who appears to have no other

special skill other than to socialize in country club formats, talking trivia among the idle rich and repeating bits of information he's heard from other conversations to appear more intelligent than he really is, and he manages to land very high paying jobs without ever having to open up a paper.

[PsN2Wind]

22. Is George * your brother-in-law?

Sounds a lot like how he "succeeded in the business world".

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. Exactly. And if you think this is limited to George Bush, you have a

big surprise coming. This is how it's done in New York City and its suburbs, as well as how it's done in the deep South. It's also the way it's done in latin American countries. So I think it's time we talk about it openly and honestly because it is certainly giving some people preferential treatment over others.

[Muddleoftheroad]

11. Not a depression

Do some reading on the real Depression and get back to us. This is several degrees less serious.

[PsN2Wind]

12. Didn't someone say the definition

of recession was when other people lost their jobs and the definition of depression was when you lost yours?

[Muddleoftheroad]

13. That is cute, but untrue

Again, the Depression was a horrifying time for America where people actually were at risk not just of losing their homes, but of actually starving to death. There were no jobs and people travelled hundreds of miles to look for work.

Things are nothing like that right now.

[PsN2Wind]

16. OK then

Losing your home doesn't meet the level of depression.
I think that the moneyed class is in a recession. Their portfolios have lost value, dividends are down and they'll have to try and squeeze another year out of the old Rolls.
However someone that has lost their job and their home and they and their family are having to live in the old Chevy probably would have a bit of a problem understanding the difference between recession and depression.

[Walt Starr]

17. It doesn't have to be as bad as the Great Depression to be a depression

Don't let anybody fool you with a strawman argument about the Great Depression which was the worst depression in history.

[Muddleoftheroad]

35. But it does have to be pretty bad

And we aren't there yet. Yes, some industries have been hard hit, but we aren't even a pale shadow of the Great Depression.

[alfredo]

40. What is keeping it from being as bad is the New Deal, which bush* is

trying to undo. What do you think the "faith based" initiative is all about? It is trying to get the churches to take over the social services, like it was before the new deal.

Bush wants us hungry and so desperate that we will settle for anything, no matter how bad. Being that slavery is illegal, they have to pay us. Bush just wants to make sure it is the least amount of money they can get away with. Why do you think they are so opposed to the minimum wage and over time laws?


The more money in the hands of the poor and middle class, the less the rich possess. To bush that is a great wrong and must be made right.

[Muddleoftheroad]

46. Not just that

There is no 30% unemployment or anything close. There is no CCC just to keep people from starving to death.

I just take issue with the overblown hyperbole.

[alfredo]

49. What is the number of people out of work?

The unemployment figures gives a distorted view of our troubles.

[hang a left]

36. so far......

"Don't let anybody fool you with a strawman argument about the Great Depression which was the worst depression in history."

[PsN2Wind]

31. The quote is from Harry Truman

not generally considered to be "cute" but honest and pragmatic.
Like Walt says there are different degrees of depression and all depressions don't have to equal the "Great Depression".

[hang a left]

34. were there unemployment insurance payments then?

was this back when only one spouse worked?

[Yupster]

55. The Great Depression

had 25 % unemployment with no social safety net until FDR started to build it. Churches ran most charities up until then and they were overwhelmed.

[The Zanti Regent]

30. That is what Ronald Reagan said

He said "A Recession occurs when your frined loses his job. A Depression occurs when you lose your job"!

Of course, he said that in Pittsburgh when he was gleefully destroying the lives of millions in the steel industry...

[PsN2Wind]

32. A line like many others that he stole from

someone else. Only he added that "recovery was when Jimmy Carter lost his job".

[Yupster]

56. Rest of the Reagan quote was

... and recovery is when President Carter loses his job. It was a cute line from their debate.

[Walt Starr]

14. The Great Depression was the worst depression in U.S. history

But the current times do not have to sink to the level of the Great Depression in order to qualify as a depression.

[MidwestMomma]

27. I agree with you

People need to remember that during the Depression, there were no government social programs so yes, people where literally starving to death and freezing to death. That's why you can't compare these times to then and use people starving to death, etc as a measure of whether we are in a depression or not.

However, if the the neoconservatives have their way and bankrupt the government as they seem bent on doing, then those social programs could very well be done away with and then I guess we could be in a depression to rival the Great one.

Like I said above, do we really need to wait for things to get that bad?

[Touchdown]

18. Simplistic definitions from Dictionary.com...

Depression

Economics. A period of drastic decline in a national or international economy, characterized by decreasing business
activity, falling prices, and unemployment.

Recession

An extended decline in general business activity, typically three consecutive quarters of falling real gross national
product.

Not much info to really make a distinction. Keep in mind that depressions happened with quite regularity in the 19th Century. Many (Keynesians) believe it was the gold standard and high concentration of wealth that was the main culprits. Since we went to fiat currency, depressions are isolated in 3rd world countries and others that drastically change their economic policies towards more social darwinist (Mises) theories, like Argentina.

[RainDog]

28. And these are current numbers

lessee...drastic decline in national economy, decreasing biz activity, unemployment...falling prices don't seem to be an issue right now, with the decline of the dollar...

From the article I posted below-

...figures soon to be released are expected to show that in 2003 the U.S. account for the first time topped the psychologically important 5-percent level. This was the worst performance since American economic statistics were first compiled in the 19th century...


he U.S. is a country with a trade deficit and must also borrow to pay the interest on its debt. Because the interest rate on that debt exceeds the U.S.'s growth rate, the compounding of capitalized interest payments alone will tend to raise the nation's relative indebtedness. I expect that the chronic U.S. current account deficit and mounting external debt will ultimately raise long-term U.S. interest rates. And this, in turn will speed up the compounding of the interest due on the U.S. external debt and will make the debt trap dynamics even more vicious. At that point, what author Charles Kindleberger calls a "credit revulsion" might ensue, producing a catastrophic outcome for the U.S. economy.

http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2004/03/mishel-l-03-08.html


While the government added 21,000 new jobs last month, no private sector jobs were created. Although unemployment remained at 5.6 percent, it did so only because 392,000 people stopped looking for work and left the labor force. To top it off, the persistently weak job market has led to slower wage growth; wages advanced by only 1.6 percent over the last year, tying with the wages of 1986 for the weakest growth rate since 1964. Even with the current low inflation rate of about 2 percent, wages are falling behind inflation.

This disappointing report raises concerns beyond the labor market. Despite blather about the "ownership society" -- a reference to the fact that half of all households have some, albeit mostly minimal, stock holdings -- most families depend on their earnings. The overall recovery will be tough to sustain without a real jobs recovery, because continued consumption growth depends on adding jobs, reducing unemployment, and boosting wages. You simply can't build a recovery on tax cuts and refinanced mortgages -- you need jobs.

[number6]

54. But Bu$h will keep working on getting us there ...

.

[hang a left]

15. Hey LG

I have my fingers and toes crossed for you. Wishing you the best of luck. Isn't is sad in this country today you wish to be lucky, over being qualified.

[barbaraann]

20. My mom lived through the Great Depression and says it's worse.

She is in a constant state of fear, anger, and turmoil watching what the monkey she voted for is doing to our country. I don't think she ever regretted any action so deeply as her vote for Bush, but she believed his lies in the campaign.

The main reason she thinks this is worse is that the Bush administration has bankrupted our government for generations and we are involved in a war that is continuing to make our fiscal situation worse. Also, our jobs are being sent overseas or mechanized at a terrifying pace and this did not happen in the Great Depression.

[freeforall]

39. This is true

..."our jobs are being sent overseas or mechanized at a terrifying pace and this did not happen in the Great Depression."

And it is the one thing about which I don't hear any concrete discussions. With a lot of jobs in manufacturing, high-tech, and other sectors being shopped out overseas, I have not heard any rational discussions from government or business sources about what kind of jobs will replace them. Retail and food service? When people lose their jobs, they cut down their spending at some point, as their cash and credit runs out. If the job situation gets worse, whose going to buy all these goods and services? And where will be the need for another Wal-mart or McDonalds?

[Yupster]

57. This is a huge problem

We have always shipped jobs overseas. When I was a kid the textile jobs were disappearing from the Garment District in New York where I grew up. There was an organized effort to save them (Look for the Union label), but it didn't work.

In the past though, there were always newer, better jobs to replace the lost ones.

I fear we are no longer producing these new jobs and new industries.


Why? That's a good question. Our education system sucks I guess would be one answer. Companies spending less money on research and development. Suggestions for other answers?

The result will be a general reduction of the living standard of the USA.

[ArkDem]

80. National unemployment rates reached a high of 25%

in 1933. The stock market lost 89% of it's value. Conditions in the country may have been a little worse.

[bread_and_roses]

23. It's as bad

here in the Southern Tier of New York where I live. And gas at nearly $2.00 per gallon and home-heating at astronomical costs (some people I work with have reported 100% increase in heating costs over last year). The only bright spot is that this CAN'T be good for the incumbent.

Good luck to you in your search.

[RainDog]

24. Must Read Article on Trade Deficits/Jobs

there are many economists who agree with you about job losses, the trade deficit, and depression...whether you call it one now or later seems to be where you are on the economic ladder at this moment.


http://www.prospect.org/print/V15/3/fingleton-e.html

Trading Down
It's not whether record trade deficits will become a full-blown currency crisis. It's when.
By Eamonn Fingleton
Issue Date: 3.1.04

...figures soon to be released are expected to show that in 2003 the U.S. account for the first time topped the psychologically important 5-percent level. This was the worst performance since American economic statistics were first compiled in the 19th century. By comparison, the notorious U.S. trade crisis of 1971-72 was a mere blip: The trade deficit in 1972, approximately 0.5 percent of the gross domestic product, was less than one-tenth of the current level. ... In a new book, Fortune Favors the Bold, (Lester Thurow) argues that without careful handling, the dollar could plunge by half, propelling the global economy into a 1930s-style depression. Also publicly fretting is billionaire investor Warren Buffett. Thurow and Buffett are, of course, liberals whose views the Bush White House can readily discount. But prominent conservatives are also joining the clamor. A standout in this regard has been CNN's Lou Dobbs. Once seemingly prepared to accept mass layoffs as a necessary price for the benefits of globalism, Dobbs has in recent months emerged as perhaps the most trenchant critic of what free trade has done to the American manufacturing sector. Even Henry Kissinger has obliquely criticized the worsening trade trend. In a comment last summer, he suggested that a nation that has lost its manufacturing base cannot long remain a world power.

"The question really is whether America can remain a great power or a dominant power if it becomes primarily a service economy, and I doubt that," Kissinger said in an India Financial Express article that appeared in July 2003. "I think that a country has to have a major industrial base in order to play a significant role in the world."

...By all world standards, America's trade deficits are stunningly out of line. An analysis of six major economies -- the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, and Italy -- shows that it is generally only during or immediately after a war that rich nations have incurred trade deficits even remotely comparable to America's recent performance. Indeed, history records only one previous case of a major nation running a trade deficit of more than 5 percent of the GDP. This was Italy in 1924 -- hardly an auspicious precedent. In recent years, the consensus both on Wall Street and in the media has been that the trade deficits "don't matter." Unfortunately, the economic thinking underlying this conclusion is as facile as the profits-don't-matter ethos that fostered the ill-fated dot-com bubble. All wishful thinking to the contrary, trade is still an important indicator of an economy's health.

For starters, a worsening trade trend has obvious implications for jobs. Indeed, the U.S. economy has lost more than 2.5 million manufacturing jobs just since Bush took office. Some observers argue that cuts in American manufacturing jobs are an inevitable, indeed welcome, reflection of rising productivity. They point out that other advanced economies, including Japan, have seen large declines in manufacturing employment over the last decade. But this comparison is highly misleading. In sharp contrast to the United States, none of the other nations usually mentioned in this context is running chronic trade deficits. (Japan, for instance, continues to run the world's largest surpluses -- about four times China's.) By contrast, America's vast trade deficits incontrovertibly testify to an unhealthy weakness in U.S. manufacturing output. What's more, even if most displaced manufacturing workers eventually do find work in services, they can rarely match their previous wage levels.

Perhaps the most alarming news of all is that America's foreign-debt problem is now feeding on itself. In the words of the prominent British fund manager and financial commentator Marshall Auerback, America has entered a banana republic-style "debt trap."

[PA Democrat]

41. I agree Raindog, that article is a must read

Thanks for the link.

There is so little mention in the mainstream media of the disastrous consequences of ongoing trade deficits. Lou Dobbs is about the only one I know of who is expressing alarm. I don't think the average American understands the consequences of trade deficits.

[jus_the_facts]

76. yep...not if but WHEN....and it's gonna open eyes much too late.....

....and the hindsight will be blinded by the devestation that will take place once it does happen....we're in for a much more hellish experience with this one as well because so many more people are added to the equasion now and they have so much more to lose now than they did back then...all the convienences we have at our disposal and the like...the backlash will be of an uncomprehensible magnitude. :evilfrown:

[MidwestMomma]

25. Best wishes on your job interview

It's an employers market and they are taking full advantage of it and it SUCKS!

It's so sad that there are thousands of stories like yours in this country. Some people will say, oh it's not that bad, but I think we should be doing something before it gets worse. Do we need to wait for bread lines and massive foreclosures for people to care about the serious unemployment problem in this country?

I think the only thing propping this country up is people living on their savings like you and people living on credit.

Bush has got to go....Here's hoping the rest of the country realizes it in time.

[molly]

29. Good luck on your interview!

I gave up looking for ajob in my field of expertise after 2 years. I took a job selling furniture, then got horribly sick from the allergen effects of the components in the furniture. I say thanks every single day that I have a husband who is employed.

I wonder how long it will take to get the economy back on track once Kerry is elected?

[rucky]

33. KOIN did the real story

inteviewed people who have given up. also mentioned hunger - we're #1!

you don't have to look too far to see it.

[freeforall]

38. Liberal_Guerilla

Sorry to hear about your job woes. I hope you find something you enjoy doing - and soon!

I think the country is in a depression and Bushco is living in fantasyland if he thinks it's a recovery.

I lived in NYC in 2000, so I have some friends there that lost their jobs as well, and some found other work, but many are still looking. I think you're right saying that many people have just given up or are off the radar because their benefits have run out.

I hope things improve soon - for everyone. With all the resources we have in this world, it just seems that there is no excuse for the misery this government creates.

We need to boot * out. All of our nations will benefit.

[Lone_Wolf]

42. The economy is in recovery is Bushspeak

It means that Bush and his cronies in the top tier of this stratified economy are doing well. Their profits are up and that's all their concerned about. Everybody else in the U.S. is in a depression.

Globalization is starting to hit the white collar jobs. My brother is a software engineer and all he is able to get is temp jobs here and there. He has been out of a regular job since '01. It's going to get much worse.

[opihimoimoi]

44. Yup, the Pub Spin guys are saying "We Good, the recovery is

in full swing" yada yada but we all know the real truth. They be lying thru their teeth. Kerry was spot on.

[Moonbeam_Starlight]

47. You know what's funny?

I worked for a smallish business in the mid-90's that had about 35-45 employees but turned over a few million a year in profits. Very good successful company.

Well, we caught HELL trying to find anyone decent to fill jobs. Jobs were so freaking plentiful you'd have a want ad out FOREVER just trying to get a few nibbles. It was definitely an employee market, NOT an employer one. We would get the worst of the worst for a receptionist because we couldn't afford to pay as much as **McDonalds** was. And we'd up that hourly pay and up that hourly pay and still couldn't find anyone.

Finally we used temp agencies, but like I said, jobs were in such huge supply, we'd lose them right away to a better paying, permanent job.

Now that company (no longer work there but husband does) has had the same two secretaries for the last four years. They don't dare go anywhere, as there isn't much of anywhere to go.

Oh yeah things are MUCH better under bush. If you are an employer. And, I guess if your company is doing well. Those two secretaries haven't had a raise in 2 1/2 years because the company knows they can get away with it. Where they gonna go?

[MidwestMomma]

50. I hear what you're saying

I pay health insurance claims and they would run want ads and get 2 applicants. They were always asking us employees if we knew anybody that was looking for work. Those were the days.

You mentioned temp agencies. Isn't funny how back then the corporations hated using them because they had to pay so much more an hour but now that's all companies want to hire are temp employees? Of course the days of making big bucks as a temps are over I think. Now it's all about saving the corporations money in benefits and such. IMHO.

Just one of the many changes we workers must deal with.

[peacetalksforall]

48. The cabal who pulls Resident Deficits strings is out to

break our back and impose might on the world while pretending that we are not crippled.

[ParanoidPat]

52. Perhaps our view of how the economy really is would be less muddled.....

......if the administration would stop tweaking how the numbers are adjusted and release real data like the PPI for the last two months! :evilfrown:

ParanoidPat, member of the unemployed for 44 months, recently advised that the few and far between side jobs I find qualifies me as an "entrepreneur" / "small business owner". :crazy: :mad:

[Capn Sunshine]

53. If you include those who have exhausted their benefits

meaning they are no longer counted in US Gov't statistics,
THE NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS OVER 10%.

[ashling]

58. I'm just up the road from you in the Olympia WA area

I am just getting ready to figure the taxes on my piddling unemployment benefits that ran out in August.

Once again, I ask, who the hell decided that we are no longer looking for jobs just because we can't collect unemployment anymore?


Hang in there.

[IconoclastIlene]

59. Aw hell...bad times can make folks vote for the Devil himself........

Look at Germany in the 1930's.

[arewethereyet]

60. you realize most jobs are un-advertised right ?

I hope you are networking as well as looking in the paper.

[RainDog]

61. and you do realize it doesn't matter what you know

but who you know that is most important.

just look at who is occupying the oval office.

[arewethereyet]

62. thats WHY networking is important

you can bitch and get nowhere or you can understand the game and work it to your advantage.

[Robin Hood]

65. Jezzus H Christ.

Networking?!! You have got to be kidding. Networking is so 90's. There are plenty of people out there networking and have jack diddly squat to show for it.

Excuse me for bitching.

[arewethereyet]

67. bitch away but I'm NOT kidding

the term may have come about in the 90's but the concept is anything but new. its been the de facto means of finding most jobs for decades if not centuries.

if a company gets plenty of unsolicited applications, why would they ever advertise ? why spend the money ?

Look I was out of work for 11 months from 2002-03 and another six months earlier than that and I got jobs in each case NOT from answering ads but from networking. and I did a LOT of both.

not easy, not fast but its the only effective means in a buyers market.

[Robin Hood]

69. You assume that all I do is look at the want ads.

I utilize every avenue. Job fairs, sending out or dropping off resumes at hundreds of places, whether they are looking to employ or not. I talk to my neighbors and friends.

Since 2000 I have been un-employed to under-emplyed for most of this time. Out of all the places that I cold called a resume to, it has only been through the want ads that I have found any jobs, however crappy they may be.

It's not like I don't know all of my avenues, I am a professional job seeker with varied skills and degree. It's just that there are not enough jobs to meet the demand. I have put out thousand of resumes, thousands.

If I do get a response it is usually months later, and they apologize that it has taken so long for them to get back to me but they had hundreds of apllicants to go through.

For those kind folk that have wished me well on my interview tommorrow, i say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am currently studying up on my psych terminology since it's been a while since i have tapped this form of employment.

DUers are so kewl.

[arewethereyet]

71. I don't assume anything but I only see mention of ads

but from what you mention, you are not truely networking or more to the point you are not doing it effectively.

see the post about 'on the odd chance...' for a better way.

and good luck to you tomorrow !

[ParanoidPat]

75. A little reality about networking......

.....I live within what could be called 'commuting distance' of Silicon Valley. I 'network' with hundreds of the 1.2 million Californians who have watched their jobs and entire industries leave the country. I know more people who are in fear of losing their jobs to outsourcing than I know people who are secure in their jobs at this point. Those who are secure have seen significant "reductions in force" or RIF's at their places of business and have no plans to hire in the immediate future.
Where do you propose we all move to to more effectively 'network'? :shrug:

Networking is not an answer to the lack of jobs that pay a living wage in an area where the cost of living is this expensive. Neither is moving over a million of us elsewhere. :(

Got any other bright ideas?

[Robin Hood]

79. Exactly pat.

Networking these days might work if your'e a real estate agent but that's about it. Good post.

[ParanoidPat]

82. Thanks, I just get tired of hearing the Bu__Sh*__!

:evilgrin: I'm also tired of the food-less meals for my children that go along with the Bush* "jobless recovery"! Thanks for starting this thread. :)

Outsource Bush* in 04!

[mhr]

78. Unemployed 46 Months, BSEE, MBA, Commercial Pilot, Veteran

Networking, Please!

I have over networked my acquaintances and friends till they never want to speak with me again.

Jobs, what jobs?

Retraining, for what?

Networking, no one I know knows about any jobs.

Get real!

[SuffragetteSal]

66. Great - wow sounds like you can teach us a few things

so then...how can I exactly understand this 'game' and make it work for me?

[arewethereyet]

68. on the odd chance that this is not scarcasm

its a fact that it really is who you know so come to know MORE people.

and the idea is NOT to ask for a job but rather seek advice on how to approach accomplishing some goal "how do I find companies working for some specific end, whats a good means ?". you stoke their ego by wanting to hear about their knowledge and success in the process.

by this you get that person off the defensive and talking and you can then sell yourself by showing drive, intelect, resourcfullness etc.

and you get other names of people who might help your research and you cause then to get to know you in the process.

all these people hear about hiring and the idea is to leave them with a favorable impression about you that they might be a catylist for hooking you up.

people hire people like themselves. thats not a discriminatory thing but rather people that think and work as they do. be that person and your prospects improve dramatically.

or you can read the paper and hope for the best. its up to you.

[Robin Hood]

77. "people hire people like themselves. thats not a discriminatory thing "

That may be true, but it is a discriminatory thing. I have hired people and have not hired them because they are like me. I hire them if they can show up on time, do the job and somewhat get along with others. Not because they remind me of my self.

[Muddleoftheroad]

81. Agree, sort of

I too have hired a bunch of people and I have high standards, but race, gender and sexual orientation don't matter to me. However, we are indeed human beings and hiring people we can get along with is essential.

[area51]

63. Good luck, Liberal_Guerilla,

on your job interview. I also believe we're in a Depression, & that the unemployment #s are definitely being undercounted. There already are bread lines & soup kitchens, & massive foreclosures. One of the few things to look forward to is we unemployed will help kick George W. "Hoover" out of the White House in Nov. When a demo takes the White House, watch the republinazis scream about the unemployment rate, having "just now noticed it".

[neverforget]

64. Sorry about your dilemma fellow Portlander! I have a right-wing

friend who was laid off Feb 2003 and his unemployment just ran out. He's been looking for work and he can't find squat. But you know what? He still loves Bush! :puke:

[Robin Hood]

70. It's amazing to me how people can still love Bush.

If Clinton had screwed the economy this bad I would be right there demanding his head on a platter. Damn Kool aid drinkers.

Hey back at you Portlander.

[area51]

73. MSN article: "The jobs picture is even worse than it seems"

I just saw this MSN article. Excerpts:

"The jobs picture is even worse than it seems. The closer you look at the numbers, the more you realize unemployment is higher than the headlines tell you. And despite what the experts say, inflation is out there, and we’re feeling it already.

"I'd like to spend a minute on the February employment report. This report, released March 5, is the third consecutive employment report that has disappointed nearly everyone. And it puts an exclamation point behind the idea that we are not creating jobs in this country.

"Using the seasonally adjusted total unemployment rate of 5.6% and adding to it 'discouraged' workers, the rate grows to 5.9%. Factor in other groups of people who are underutilized in the work force, you can ratchet the number all the way up to 9.6%. And, for the sake of comprehensiveness, if you use the non-seasonally adjusted numbers, that rate would swell to 10.9%. So, those are the numbers, and I'll leave readers to draw their own conclusions."

[DemPoliticalJunkie]

74. "sigh"

I hear ya, buddy.