National Emergency: 12.5% Unemployed or Underemployed

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that its recent report to the Joint Economic Committee is "one of the worst jobs reports" it has ever given in its 124 years of existence. Bureau commissioner Keith Hall says that the country lost 533,000 jobs in November. But, says the New York Times, the actual percentage of those out of work or whose work hours have been cut is much, much higher:

More significantly, the unemployment rate [which is now 6.7 percent] does not include those too discouraged to look for work any longer or those working fewer hours than they would like. Add those people to the roster of the unemployed, and the rate hit a record 12.5 percent in November, up 1.5 percentage points since September.

In fact, not since December 1974, when I was 14 years old—the age that my oldest son now is—have this many people lost this many jobs in a single month. This is an emergency, and we're stuck with a lame-duck president who doesn't have the courage or—what's really a crime—even the ability to try to help.



economy recession unemployed underemployed lame duck Bush EditorMom