The Bureau of Labor Statistics for July states that 5.7% of Americans are unemployed. Percentages are sometimes difficult to visualize, so how about this number: 8.8 million people are officially out of work.
The number of the unemployed is actually higher, because the BLS only counts people who file for unemployment insurance.  However, in the official numbers, you can view the stats by certain categories to see who’s losing a lot of ground. In July, whites were unemployed at around the national average (5.1%). If you’re African American or Latino, the unemployment rates are much higher (9.7% and 7.4%, respectively).
One of the most shocking numbers is for teenagers. Yep, teens get a category, and the rate is just a little over 20%. For a bit of a comparison, the unemployment rate peaked at 25% in 1933 for all workers. Of course, that’s an average, and there were parts of the country were whole populations were unemployed because of something called the Great Depression. These days we’re not anywhere near depression levels in terms of unemployment and the economy tanking, but we are in an era where a number of factors have aligned to produce a real downward drag on sectors of the economy. The price of oil, the credit mess, war, real estate woes, decreased consumer spending, and prices for goods and services increasing mean that we’re going to languish in the economic doldrums for the next year or so. Businesses are spending less, too. If staff cuts can balance out the bottom line, then cut away — or face extinction.
Government solutions to crises like this run the gamut of tax cuts to direct cash payments to individuals to stimulate the economy back into a period of growth. The economic stimulus checks that went out did help goose the economy a bit as consumer spending slightly rose. But really, people aren’t complete fools, and most paid down their debt or saved the money if they could afford to. It seems in the “rational actor” world of economics, people know we’re in a shitstorm, and they’re battening down the hatches. (more…)
