NoJobSurvivor.com

UPDATED March 18, 2010

The number of new applications for Unemployment Insurance dropped to 457,000 by 5,000 from the previous week's unrevised figure of 462,000, in the week ending 13 March 2010, the US Department of Labor reported today.

The 4-week moving average was 471,250, a decrease of 4,250 from the previous week's unrevised average of 475,500.

Insured unemployment ending the week March 6 increased from the adjusted preceding week of  4,567,000 by 12,000 to 4,570,000. The 4 week moving steadied at 4,581,000, no change from the preceding week's revised average of 4,581,000.

States reported 5,588,048 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending February 27, an increase of 360,123 from the prior week.

Click here for a full range graph of unemployment claims.

Jobless Rate^* Increases Across 36 States in December

Thirty states and the District of Columbia recorded over-the-month
unemployment rate increases, 9 states registered rate decreases, and
11 states had no rate change,^* the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the year, jobless rates increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Six states reported statistically significant over-the-month unemployment rate increases in January. New Mexico experienced the largest of these (+0.3 percentage point), followed by California, Florida, Idaho, and Utah (+0.2 point each) and Maryland (+0.1 point).
The remaining 44 states and the District of Columbia registered jobless rates that were not appreciably different from those of a month earlier, though some had changes that were at least as large numerically as the significant changes. The national unemployment rate dropped to 9.7 percent in December.

All but 6 Republican Senators voted against the Unemployment Benefits Extension Bill Wednesday -- 16 of them from states with double digit unemployment. The National Unemployment rate^U3 is 9.7%.

Here are the 16 Republican Senators who voted against your safety-net:

Senators Kit Bond (R-MO), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), George Voinivich (R-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) joined all of the Democrats except Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) in voting for the measure.

Job losses from the start of the recession are by far the worst since WWII in percentage terms. Employment peaked in December 2007. The depth and potentially the length of significant unemployment is illustrated in the graph below from calculatedriskblog.com.

March 5, 2010 The February U-6 unemployment rate rose to 16.8%, an increase of point 3 percentage points, the government reported today.

Long term unemployment, defined to be 27 weeks or more out of work steadied at about 6.1 million, or 41% of unemployed^(U3) people.

Also there were 1,200,000 discouraged workers in February, up from 473,000 a year earlier. Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them.

The more commonly quoted U-3 was unchanged at 9.7 percent. The number of unemployed persons unchange at 14.9 million and 36,000 jobs were lost in February.

Nonfarm private employment decreased 20,000 from January 2010 to February 2010 on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the ADP National Employment Report®. The estimated change of employment from December 2009 to January 2010 was revised down, from a decline of 22,000 to a decline of 60,000. The February employment decline was the smallest since employment began falling in February of 2008.

Complete ADP National Employment Report

The US Bureau Labor Statistics Jobs Situation report is due out Friday and is likely to echo the trends of the ADP report. Until the decrease in employment falls below jobs creation, the overall unemployment rate will rise and an unemployment rate increase is expected in tomorrow's BLS Situation report.

February 2, 2010 Unemployment rates were higher in October than a year earlier in all 372 metropolitan areas except one, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

• Nineteen areas recorded jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent,
• ten areas registered rates below 5.0 percent,
• 356 areas reported over-the-year increases in nonfarm payroll unemployment,
• 12 reported decreases,
• 138 metropolitan areas reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent, up from 42 areas a year earlier,
• 68 areas posted rates below 7.0 percent, down from 205 areas in December 2008,
• 19 areas with jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, 12 were located in California and 3 were in Michigan.

El Centro, Calif., continued to record the highest unemployment rate, 27.7 percent. Merced, Calif., registered the next highest rate, 19.8 percent. Overall, 146 areas recorded unemployment rates above the U.S. figure of 9.7  percent (non seasonally adjusted), and 221 areas reported rates below it.

Click here for a larger picture of the Unemployment Rate Map.

Click here for a pdf of the complete and detailed BLS METROPOLITAN AREA EMPLOYMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT report.

What is the situation in your town?

Oh which was the lucky metro area? Answer: Hinesville GA was the lucky metro with a drop of 0.5% in unemployment.

December 4, 2009 The government reported today that only 11,000 jobs were lost in November, the fewest lost since the start of the recession.

Long term unemployment, defined to be 27 weeks or longer out of work, increased to a total 5.9 million, 38.3% or over 1 in 3 unemployed people. This is 3.8% of the total labor force—far surpassing the previous peak of 2.6% set in June 1983.

The number of unemployed persons declined slightly by 463,000 to 15.4 million. The November U-6 unemployment rate was 17.2%, a small decline from October by a third of a percentage point.

The more commonly quoted U-3 unemployment rate was 10.0 percent, declining by two tenths of a percentage point from October.

November 6, 2009 The government reported today that 190,000 jobs were lost in October.

The number of unemployed persons rose by 558,000 to 15.7 million. The September U-6 unemployment rate was 17.5%, a rise from September by half of a percentage point. The more commonly quoted U-3 unemployment rate was 10.2 percent, rising by four tenths of a percentage point from September.

Long term unemployment, defined to be 27 weeks or longer out of work, increased to a total 5.6 million, 35.6% or over 1 in 3 unemployed people.

WASHINGTON October 29, 2009 Output of goods and services grew at a 3.5 percent annual rate, faster than economists expected, according to preliminary figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

It will be months before job-seekers begin to feel any benefits. Unemployment is still about 17%^(U6) last September according to the Bureau Labor Statistics. October unemployment statistics are due next Thursday.

October 22, 2009 In September, employers took 2,561 mass layoff actions involving 248,006 workers. Mass layoff events decreased by 129 and associated initial claims by 11,301 from August. A mass layoff involves termination of 50 or more workers from a single employer.

Over the year, the number of mass layoff events increased by 271, and associated initial claims increased by 7,285. Year-to-date mass layoff events (23,745) and initial claims (2,410,208) both recorded program highs.

Source: US Bureau for Labor Statistics.

October 2, 2009 The economy shed 263,000 jobs in September, the government reported today in its monthly employment situation report.

In September, the number of unemployed persons was 15.1 million. The U-3 unemployment rate was 9.8 percent, rising by one tenth of a precentage point.

Long term unemployment, defined to be 27 weeks or longer out of work, increased by 450,000 to a total 5.4 million, 35.6% or over 1 in 3 unemployed people.

The September U-6 unemployment rate was 17.0%, a rise from July by two tenths of a percentage point, according to the BLS.

September 18, 2009. Twenty-seven states and the District of Columbia reported unemployment rate increases during August, 16 states registered rate decreases, and 7 states had no rate change, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the year, jobless rates increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. See the chart.

Fourteen states and the District of Columbia reported jobless rates of at least 10.0 percent in August. Michigan continued to have the highest unemployment rate among the states, 15.2 percent. Nevada recorded the next highest rate, 13.2 percent, followed by Rhode Island, 12.8 percent, and California and Oregon, 12.2 percent each. The rates in California, Nevada, and Rhode Island set new series highs. North Dakota again registered the lowest jobless rate, 4.3 percent in August, followed by South Dakota, 4.9 percent, and Nebraska, 5.0 percent. In total, 27 states posted jobless rates signifi- cantly lower than the U.S. figure of 9.7 percent, 11 states and the District of Columbia had measurably higher rates, and 12 states had rates that were not appreciably different from that of the nation.

Click for Larger Graph

Sources, The US Bureau for Labor Statistics.

September 4, 2009 The economy shed 216,000 jobs in August, the government reported today in its monthly employment situation report.

In August, the number of unemployed persons was 14.9 million. The U-3 unemployment rate was 9.7 percent, rising by three tenths of a precentage point.

Long term unemployment, defined to be 27 weeks or longer out of work, increased by 23,000 to a total 4.98 million or 1 in 3 unemployed people.

The August U-6 unemployment rate was 16.8%, a rise from July by six tenths of a percentage point, according to the BLS.

When you are out of work you know exactly what unemployment means but what do the unemployment rates quoted in the media mean? The rate most often quoted in the USA is known as the U-3 rate with another statistic, the U6 rate, sometimes quoted in comparison. The difference between the two rates is very significant. As of October 2009 the U-3 rate was 10.2% compared to the U-6 rate of 17.5%. So are you a U-3 person, a U-6 or something else altogether?