Why Aren't More Americans Working?

[Freewill]

Make of it as you will, interesting statistics, here is one.

Why Aren't More Americans Working?

 

[Lakhota]

Ask Republicans in Congress who obstructed the American Jobs Act.

 

[Davros]

Because we don't feel like it.

 

[Grandma]

Because the jobs went overseas to slave labor.

 

[Anathema]

Mostly becayse we have a social safety net in the United Statss. Able-bodied adults in the US can have no money if their own, CHOOSE not to work, abd not either starve or die of exposure. Especially if they have children.

Take that safety net away and things would change rather quickly.

 

[Searcher44]

Make of it as you will, interesting statistics, here is one.

Why Aren't More Americans Working?

Might have something to do with blind support for corporation-slanted legislation,swallowing the"job-creator"myth hook line and sinker and enabling the shipping of jobs overseas. Buying into free
trade setting up the American worker to compete with labor earning 50 cents/hr. What else...oh yeah
a little to do with Republican cheered Union-busting so there was no worker power to fight those moves, American hatred for the concept that a well-educated society is a strong society, ignoring the lesson learned with the support for veteran education that helped make America an economic powerhouse in the 50's and 60's. The gullible supra-nationalist idea that being the #1 superpower wasn't good enough, it had to pour enough cash into mega-Global businesses pockets to make America #1 10 times over. There wasn't a war to small (Grenada) or too big (the entire M.E. was the neocon target.)
to fight and necessity no factor. Being easily convinced a CEO deserved 300 times a workers salary when 30 times was enough in America's heyday. Disagreeing with that was socialist class warfare.

There's lots more but that's enough.

 

[waltky]

Mixed employment news...

Labor Force Participation Improves; 93,688,000 Americans Not in Labor Force
March 4, 2016 | The number of Americans not in the labor force last month totaled 93,688,000, 374,000 fewer than the 94,062,000 not in the labor force in January--and the labor force participation rate also improved, with 62.9 percent of the civilian noninstitutional population either holding a job or actively seeking one.

In the past 12 months, the highest labor participation rate was 62.8 percent in February and May 2015; the lowest was 62.4 percent in September 2015, and that 62.4 percent was the lowest in 38 years. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the economy added 242,000 jobs in February (compared with a revised 172,000 in January), and the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 percent for the second month in a row.

In February, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 252,577,000. Of those, 158,890,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one. The 158,890,000 who participated in the labor force equaled 62.9 percent of the 252,577,000 civilian noninstitutional population. Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (4.5 percent), adult women (4.5 percent), teenagers (15.6 percent), Whites (4.3 percent), Blacks (8.8 percent), Asians (3.8 percent), and Hispanics (5.4 percent) showed little or no change in February.

On the negative side, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls declined by 3 cents in Feburary to $25.35, following an increase of 12 cents in January. The Labor Department reported on Thursday that initial claims for unemployment insurance have been below 300,000 for a solid year. The last time this happened was in December 1973. In the first half of 2009, more than 600,000 laid-off workers were applying for unemployment insurance benefits each week.

Another Labor Department report noted that in 2015, annual average unemployment rates decreased in 47 states and the District of Columbia; increased in 2 states; and were unchanged in 1 state, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week. North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate -- 2.7 percent in 2015, followed by Nebraska and South Dakota -- 3.0 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively. Nevada and West Virginia had the highest jobless rates among the states at 6.7 percent each. The District of Columbia had a rate of 6.9 percent.

Republican candidates discuss jobs

See also:

More Older Workers Returning to Labor Force; More Long-Term Unemployed
March 4, 2016 | Rep. Dan Coats (R-Ind.), chairman of the Joint Economic Committee, said on Friday that although the economy is adding jobs, the latest jobs report "seems far better than it actually is."

He pointed to several "troubling trends." “Workers in their older years are returning to the workforce in greater numbers than prime-age workers, as the largest employment increase occurred among those 55 and older," Coats said. According to the February unemployment report, released on Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 34,186,000 people, age 55 and older, were employed in February 2016, 4.27 percent (or 1.4 million) more than the 32,786,000 employed in February 2015.

Among people in their prime working years (ages 24-54), 97,736,000 were employed last month, 1.2 percent (or 1.16 million) more than the 96,572,000 employed in February 2015. Coats also noted that the amount of long-term unemployed, defined as those looking for work for 27 weeks or longer, increased as a percentage of the unemployed in February.

Turning again to the February jobs report, the number of long-term unemployed was 2,165,000 in February, the fourth consecutive monthly increase. Last month, these individuals accounted for 27.7 percent of the unemployed. Coats said he'll continue trying to "pursue legislation that decreases our debt, reduces overly burdensome regulations on employers and overhauls a tax code that is holding back our potential." On a related note, jobs were among the topics raised at a hearing of the Joint Economic Committee this past Wednesday.

Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, told the panel that increasing automation will continue to affect lower-skilled workers as their jobs are replaced by advances in technology. "What we should be doing in this regard is making sure people have more skills to take advantage of, so they're complementing the innovations, benefiting more from them; (and) making sure we have a labor market that's better at moving people from job to job. (Here he plugged the president's wage insurance proposal to protect people who move from higher wage to lower wage jobs).

More Older Workers Returning to Labor Force; More Long-Term Unemployed

Related:

BLS: Black Unemployment 8.8%, Latino 5.4%, White 4.3%, Asian 3.8%
March 4, 2016 | For February, the national unemployment rate was 4.9%, but for whites alone it was 4.3%, and for Blacks it was 8.8%, more than double the rate of whites, according to the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Asians had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.8%, and Hispanics' unemployment rate in February was 5.4%.

Whites make up 77.4% of the population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Blacks comprise 13.2% of the population, Hispanics 17.4%, and Asians 5.4%.

The unemployment rates for whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Latinos were seasonally adjusted and for workers age 16 and older. Young workers, ages 16 to 19, had an unemployment rate of 15.6%.

The BLS also reported that the more expansive analysis of the unemployed, the U-6 number, showed tha national unemployment rate was 9.7% in February. The BLS defines the U-6 data as "total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers."

BLS: Black Unemployment 8.8%, Latino 5.4%, White 4.3%, Asian 3.8%