Unemployment at a 27 year high.

[Small Biz Owner]

What passes for more mis-information and pie in the sky data from some posters on these boards.

Layoffs at a 13 year low?
More unemployed now since 1984.

Layoffs are actually at a 27 year high.
Unemployment has again risen over 9%

Or the chart shows the true facts best......

[Small Biz Owner]

I pay higher than most of my competitor's, but most of those Midwest transplants coming to Texas looking for jobs are listing previous wages of $20.00 or more an hour. We pay $12 to $15 entry level plus full benefits. In the past 2 years most kept on looking for higher pay.

This summer we have had at least triple the number of applicants over the last 2 years, and we are not advertising, nor do we have any openings. However the expected pay rate has gone from "I used to make over $20.00/hr" to "I will take whatever you offer" for most of them. We still take applications just in case we have unexpected turnover.

I am not sure where to look for data, but my observation is that most unemployed are taking lower paying jobs now, instead of no job. I hate to see what will occur when the federal extended unemployment runs out in Dec of 2011.

[smackdown]

Small Biz Owner... you have to pray for a reversal on your issue perception. As long as there are higher paid applicants forced to accept less, and as many are coming from other states, no recovery is possible. It works like this--- if pay rates were consistent, so would the economics. As long as the jobs fail to pay sufficient wages to meet basic family-sustaining needs, no one can buy-in to bolster the economics. I listened last night to a report that said- MOST of the stock losses yesterday went straight into metals. That's a shift from working capital to rocks in a closet.
The markets will continue to decline now that a migration to safety in metals exist. Fancy bookkeeping won't sway the paranoid but a concerted effort that begins to offset job stagnation with incentives to hire-- creates customers out of employees.
The reversal refers to unemployment compensation. Germany hacked the hyper-pay from their executive class and put the unemployed back into their jobs supplemented by "helper" comp. That is, no overtime for full time workers and no extra pay for so-called highly talented people. They put the idle back on the payrolls even if it was for 10 hours weekly and in some cases, cut full time back to 30 and partially comped everybody. The result from the initiate was-- increased vitality in their economy because everyone was a buyer of goods and services again.

Like you, I run a business. I can honestly say that I live a wholesale existence, rarely if ever buying anything at the retail price. That said, there are a vast number of purely online buyers who don't pay sales tax on what they buy, undermining both retail and nation revenues. That means our only way to regain stability (before fixing the online tax thing) is to create more buyers. Mitch McConnell (R) Senate threatened America yesterday by saying that "his" electives to the new committee to fix what ails us-- won't be voting EVER to raise taxes. Get a clue, Mitch. If we can't tax the rich, then we have to involuntarily confiscate their excess because it's really EXCESSIVE and we can't print new dollars for quite a while.
The double-edged sword in this is-- in order to regain prosperity, we have to reset back to the last prosperity and eliminate those who took more than they needed out of circulation and supply. Know this-- being a Small Biz Owner is worth it's weight in future windfall because smaller enterprises have the capability of transformation, reconstitution and reconfiguration-- almost overnight, if need be. Trying to reshape giant bloated behemoths of Big Bureaucratic Business is literally impossible. They will need to be dismantled and divested.

[Small Biz Owner]

V_L as the American incomes fall so does their ability to invest into the Wall Street markets. If, and I think it is now a done deal, the Federal extended unemployment ends, families will be borrowing and cashing in 401K stocks to survive.

Starting now, you have boomer's cashing in 401K stocks for food, medicine and daily life needs. If Social Security payments are reduced, this will accelerate those 401K cash-outs.

I have a good sense you already know all this.

[bimetalaupt]

Aug 3, 2011 6:37:53 GMT -5 Small Biz Owner said:

I pay higher than most of my competitor's, but most of those Midwest transplants coming to Texas looking for jobs are listing previous wages of $20.00 or more an hour. We pay $12 to $15 entry level plus full benefits. In the past 2 years most kept on looking for higher pay.

This summer we have had at least triple the number of applicants over the last 2 years, and we are not advertising, nor do we have any openings. However the expected pay rate has gone from "I used to make over $20.00/hr" to "I will take whatever you offer" for most of them. We still take applications just in case we have unexpected turnover.

I am not sure where to look for data, but my observation is that most unemployed are taking lower paying jobs now, instead of no job. I hate to see what will occur when the federal extended unemployment runs out in Dec of 2011.

Small Business Owner,
When I did my MBA we had some studies done about one of the chip Fab owners who said then when he could hire from a major compositor he always got more information free on projections and improvement in products and cost.

I owned the largest Home Health system in West Texas and if we gained an opportunity to hire from the better system we always did.. The increase in business paid off.

Just a thought,
Bi

[usaone]

Aug 3, 2011 6:37:53 GMT -5 Small Biz Owner said:

I pay higher than most of my competitor's, but most of those Midwest transplants coming to Texas looking for jobs are listing previous wages of $20.00 or more an hour. We pay $12 to $15 entry level plus full benefits. In the past 2 years most kept on looking for higher pay.

This summer we have had at least triple the number of applicants over the last 2 years, and we are not advertising, nor do we have any openings. However the expected pay rate has gone from "I used to make over $20.00/hr" to "I will take whatever you offer" for most of them. We still take applications just in case we have unexpected turnover.

I am not sure where to look for data, but my observation is that most unemployed are taking lower paying jobs now, instead of no job. I hate to see what will occur when the federal extended unemployment runs out in Dec of 2011.

Your not hiring nor advertising to hire but your interviewing multiple candidates and having in depth conversations with them on their previous employment? Doesn't make any sense.

[decoy409]

smallbizowner, that old 12-15 $ hr. deal is a thing of the past for most with families. Once you gas the car,pay the utilities and rent or that home payment and add groceries,well your tapped!

Relief is on the way after the full meltdown.

[usaone]

Aug 3, 2011 8:29:13 GMT -5 decoy409 said:

smallbizowner, that old 12-15 $ hr. deal is a thing of the past for most with families. Once you gas the car,pay the utilities and rent or that home payment and add groceries,well your tapped!

Relief is on the way after the full meltdown.

This is NOT most people.

[decoy409]

Your right! Most people are making MINIMUM WAGE. And that heats the kettle with the water boiling over all the more.

[Small Biz Owner]

Your not hiring nor advertising to hire but your interviewing multiple candidates and having in depth conversations with them on their previous employment? Doesn't make any sense.

Please show me where I posted that I did an in-depth interview with any of them. Salary information is part of the application.

We keep applications for 90 days for the reason I posted.

We still take applications just in case we have unexpected turnover.

I know I will just be more fellow American riff raff according to you. Oh wait, not yet, still in business.

[usaone]

Aug 3, 2011 8:32:23 GMT -5 decoy409 said:

Your right! Most people are making MINIMUM WAGE. And that heats the kettle with the water boiling over all the more.

Any statistics on that?

[Small Biz Owner]

By the way, I have never turned anyone away who wanted an application for employment. A lot of them come in and are happy just to be able to fill one out. A lot of places turn them a way at the door. I have a more humane character than that. I also don't regard any of my fellow Americans as riff raff.

[usaone]

Poorly run companies are riff raff.

[decoy409]

"Please show me where I posted that I did an in-depth interview with any of them. Salary information is part of the application."

After they close the place down for 24hrs there are still those coming out of the weeds and pushing the bee hive stick. Go figure.

Statistics? For what? Are you unable to do research? Or have you simply fell that far behind over the years? Here is a little start for you and there is no need to elaborate further in defense or debate,simply becouse it's not worth the time arguing about who is getting what.

July 5,2011

Those jobs are minimum wage

They forgot to mention that Texas has the highest number of working people making just minimum wage. And the just barely making it folks. They have the highest number of people without health insurance and the most contaminated ground water. The children in Texas rank 47 in education of all the other states. I would not want to live in Texas.

opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/07/republican-jobs-vs-democratic-unemployment-most-commented.html

Wealth, Income, and Power
by G. William Domhoff
September 2005 (updated July 2011)

sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

[usaone]

I cant find anything in those articles that gives me the % of Americans making minimum wage. Or the % change of people making minimum wage.

[Small Biz Owner]

Thanks for the response Decoy. Mind you, I still have a business to run today so I cannot be on-line all the time.
Yes I am in Texas, no it is not all that it is cracked up to be. But we still lead the USA in employment.

The Minimum Wage Trap in Texas - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com
The Minimum Wage Trap. Updated July 18, 2011, 08:42 AM ... Texas now leads the
nation in minimum-wage workers. ... The state added more than 211000 jobs in
2010, accounting for a large slice of the nation's employment growth. ...

www.nytimes.com/.../2011/...texas-jobs.../the-minimum-wage-trap-in-texas - Similar

Yes we lead the nation in minimum wage jobs. But is having a minimum wage job better than no job at all?

But those I hope are starting points for most people. I agree with USA1 that education is key to a more financially secure future. A lot of people are moving here for these minimum wage jobs and going to our low cost colleges to gain new skill set to start over.

Texas leads the nation in adult college students over 25 yr old also.

[decoy409]

Someday USA you will be able to figure some things out and stop the nonsense (I hope) but not all will be granted that. For your sake I hope that you really do wisen up.

All the same I bid you a good day.

[usaone]

Aug 3, 2011 9:43:42 GMT -5 Small Biz Owner said:

Thanks for the response Decoy. Mind you, I still have a business to run today so I cannot be on-line all the time.
Yes I am in Texas, no it is not all that it is cracked up to be. But we still lead the USA in employment.

The Minimum Wage Trap in Texas - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com
The Minimum Wage Trap. Updated July 18, 2011, 08:42 AM ... Texas now leads the
nation in minimum-wage workers. ... The state added more than 211000 jobs in
2010, accounting for a large slice of the nation's employment growth. ...

www.nytimes.com/.../2011/...texas-jobs.../the-minimum-wage-trap-in-texas - Similar

Yes we lead the nation in minimum wage jobs. But is having a minimum wage job better than no job at all?

But those I hope are starting points for most people. I agree with USA1 that education is key to a more financially secure future. A lot of people are moving here for these minimum wage jobs and going to our low cost colleges to gain new skill set to start over.

Texas leads the nation in adult college students over 25 yr old also.

I agree and people getting a good education or going back to college is also part of the recovery.

[decoy409]

Smallbizowner, Now just figure out what to do with the over population and the biz being given on the lack of education distractor and you really have something! However we are over populated in this country like so many others.
Pushing buttons is not the future as well as high tech for the vast majority as robotics are clearly in the future and have been taking the life out of the needed average worker as we looked at just the other day.
There is way more to 'The BIG Picture' than what many care to look at or discuss. But al the same I am open to bringing up and out these things.

[smackdown]

"V_L as the American incomes fall so does their ability to invest into the Wall Street markets. If, and I think it is now a done deal, the Federal extended unemployment ends, families will be borrowing and cashing in 401K stocks to survive.
Starting now, you have boomer's cashing in 401K stocks for food, medicine and daily life needs. If Social Security payments are reduced, this will accelerate those 401K cash-outs.
I have a good sense you already know all this."

I agree, but with a caveat. I can't say for sure, but I put the cost of this from 2007 to-date 2011 to average Middle Class family at maybe-- $250,000. That is comprised of: lost equity, lost pay, lost investments, lost personal growth and so much more. Two portions of that bitter potion. Some fell to a low that engaged salvation assistance. Others have endured but bear the brunt of that cost on future ability and capacity. The key here is- there are some who didn't fall at all and have made out very well during that same time frame. Discounting all opinions on who they are... the point here is the future potential of THAT hoarded wealth. Will it create new businesses? New employment (because they own businesses)? Or are they older empty nests, all-income no children, multiple-divorcees with litters of kids they ignore or avoid? Never before in our history have we been here. We cannot print more money. Our Credit Rating is wallowing. Unemployment and Under-Employment were grossly under-estimated without the attention needed to not make it a toxic factor.
The first thing I think about, SBO... is that the government will take away our (small biz) deductions because we don't have the lobbies or legal bullies to push it on our larger counterparts (who have more cash today than ever in history). The second thing is... why are we allowing Big Financial to bulk up wealth for the nearly-dead or incapacitated or never-will-return-to-the-work-force? Wouldn't it make more sense to make these folks comfortable with quality care and divert 100% of their wealth away from Trusts and future Will Distributions and pool it to re-ignite our economy? Simply put, we're stuck without such a move. It would also make a lot of sense to truly audit anyone under 45 with more than $1 million in non-equity wealth and force them to liquidate it into non-service enterprises that eventually make products and hire personnel.

Wealth has no good argument for retaining their riches. It's a finite number now and redistribution for recovery makes more sense than a Civil War.

[smackdown]

"Poorly run companies are riff raff."

In 1982, 99% of big businesses subscribed to the same style business plan. 1% did not. By the end of 1983, nearly all of the 99% had-- gone out of business, were acquired by necessity or were renegotiating debt in Chapter 12s. Today, 99% of businesses subscribe to the same administrative and operational structure (numbers driven platforms) and lack a Plan B. John Challenger (Challenger, Gray & Christmas), almost no one is seeking cross-trained personnel and nearly all job postings are for custom personnel (not work a machine, work a X-Brand machine), demonstrating a fundamental lack of skill in the management component. The CFO of GE said the entity is super cash rich and that he would "liquidate personnel" before tapping the reserves. Think it through... what is an entity without people to conduct work that makes sales and generates income-- it's a cancer to the world. It has to make sense to you that such thinking is the core problem with our economy and "riff raff" as you coined it.

A properly operating company has management that has hands-on operational experience, trustworthy cross-trained WORKERS (not bring-it-on drones) and sends Sales out to find opportunities to steer the fully functional machine to, for generating income. A business that relies too heavily on market investments, cheap imports, stock and accounting games and retraces figures only after they have gyrated their stock under false pretenses won't be around this time next year.

I don't need to predict that the Sears K-Mart thing is an ugly dying beast. I wouldn't be surprised if Levi Strauss goes down, the product this year isn't worth buying.

"This is NOT most people.: (Referring to $10-$12 hour jobs)

Almost NO college grads since 2008 landed in their degree fields. Most got $8 hour jobs and still live at home. It's a NATIONAL stat. Decoy is correct. Families cannot take on $10-$12 hour jobs because the costs of living exceed the time absorbed by the employment. Those jobs don't just let you work. There's a bastard on the other end pushing the workers to the breaking point for false levels of productivity and the environments themselves are like prisons, not work places. This is not some secluded market, it's big business in the wrong direction.

[maui1]

lets have a 'clean-up-america' program.

everyone that is collecting unemployment for longer than 3 months, HAS to participate, or get taken off the unemployment rolls.

supervised by unemployed supervisors, these people can clean up parks, beaches, highways, city streets, neighborhoods, everywhere.

pay them 10% more than they are making now on unemployment, to cover some of their added costs.

this will keep our unemployment costs to a minimum, as there is still a 'safety net', but not a life time entitlement program, as it seems we have now.

just the demand for their contribution to a work effort will take the 'scammers' off the public dole.

[usaone]

Aug 3, 2011 11:52:02 GMT -5 @smackdown said:

"Poorly run companies are riff raff."

In 1982, 99% of big businesses subscribed to the same style business plan. 1% did not. By the end of 1983, nearly all of the 99% had-- gone out of business, were acquired by necessity or were renegotiating debt in Chapter 12s. Today, 99% of businesses subscribe to the same administrative and operational structure (numbers driven platforms) and lack a Plan B. John Challenger (Challenger, Gray & Christmas), almost no one is seeking cross-trained personnel and nearly all job postings are for custom personnel (not work a machine, work a X-Brand machine), demonstrating a fundamental lack of skill in the management component. The CFO of GE said the entity is super cash rich and that he would "liquidate personnel" before tapping the reserves. Think it through... what is an entity without people to conduct work that makes sales and generates income-- it's a cancer to the world. It has to make sense to you that such thinking is the core problem with our economy and "riff raff" as you coined it.

A properly operating company has management that has hands-on operational experience, trustworthy cross-trained WORKERS (not bring-it-on drones) and sends Sales out to find opportunities to steer the fully functional machine to, for generating income. A business that relies too heavily on market investments, cheap imports, stock and accounting games and retraces figures only after they have gyrated their stock under false pretenses won't be around this time next year.

I don't need to predict that the Sears K-Mart thing is an ugly dying beast. I wouldn't be surprised if Levi Strauss goes down, the product this year isn't worth buying.

"This is NOT most people.: (Referring to $10-$12 hour jobs)

Almost NO college grads since 2008 landed in their degree fields. Most got $8 hour jobs and still live at home. It's a NATIONAL stat. Decoy is correct. Families cannot take on $10-$12 hour jobs because the costs of living exceed the time absorbed by the employment. Those jobs don't just let you work. There's a bastard on the other end pushing the workers to the breaking point for false levels of productivity and the environments themselves are like prisons, not work places. This is not some secluded market, it's big business in the wrong direction.

Do you have a link to that NATIONAL stat?

[usaone]

articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-07-17/business/fl-highly-skilled-workers-20110715_1_highly-skilled-workers-recruiters-employers

[usaone]

We have a SHORTAGE of College Educated people not a surplus living at home.

diverseeducation.com/article/15970/

[usaone]

talentmgt.com/articles/view/report-u-s-has-been-under-producing-college-educated-workers-for-30-years

You need to be educated in Tech.

[usaone]

[smackdown]

This story was reported in collaboration with our partners at Patch.com.

NEW YORK -- Seventy-five job applications. Forty cover letters. Twelve interviews. Zero job offers.

Since graduating from Wellesley College four years ago, Kayla Calkin, 25, has yet to get a break.

In May, Calkin completed a master's degree in public policy from George Washington University. Like so many her age, she believed a graduate degree might guarantee a more stable future.

Calkin now works as a full-time nanny in Washington, D.C., while continuing to scour for an eventual dream job in politics. Her two degrees make her overqualified for even the most basic, entry-level position.

"I guess I'm overqualified to work on Capitol Hill, but I'm not overqualified to watch one-year-olds play in a playground," said Calkin, who tries to remain optimistic despite an uncertain future. "It's a scary, scary time."

Calkin is hardly alone in her quest to find decent work amidst a bleak job market.

According to a report released earlier today by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, June's unemployment rate ticked steadily higher from 9.1 to 9.2 percent. Combined with a rising jobless rate and news that only 18,000 jobs were added to the economy in the last month, many recent graduates fear the worst is not yet over. For 20-somethings hoping to jump start their adult lives, the economic "recovery" is starting to feel endless and euphemistic.

College graduates still fare better than their peers with only a high school diploma, but even their job prospects show signs of fatigue. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey, the unemployment rate for college graduates between the ages of 20 to 24-year-olds soared five percentage points in the past month -- from 7.1 percent in May to 12.1 percent in June, compared with a three percent jump during the same period last year.

"It's terrible. I've never seen a recovery like this," said Andrew Sum, a professor of economics at Northeastern University. Sum is particularly concerned for recent graduates, whose fate depends on strong job growth. He says a minimum of 125,000 jobs must be added each month in order to keep pace with population growth -- a growth requirement approximately seven times larger than the 18,000 jobs added last month.

"Today's report is really bad but last month's was bad and the answer is that this recovery has just come to a grinding halt," said Sum. "There's really no growth happening."

Carl E. Van Horn, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University recently looked at what happened to college graduates who finished school between 2006 and 2010. Of these, only half found full-time jobs.

Van Horn now worries for the approximately 1.5 million 2011 graduates vying for those same slots.

"You have another class of graduates that are facing not only a difficult labor market but competition from the previous three, four and five years of young graduates also clamoring to find their way into the labor market," said Van Horn. "The continued weak recovery will mean more graduates finding themselves in part-time jobs and contingency jobs and jobs that are far below their level of education."

Sum advises young people in search of work to continue casting a wide net. Van Horn cautions recent graduates to resist the temptation to see graduate school as a guaranteed refuge during rough economic times.

"Not every graduate program leads to a guaranteed job. You likely already have debt and you're going to incur more debt and what's it going to translate into down the road?" asked Van Horn. "While it's okay to major in cultural anthropology, understand that you may not end up as the next Margaret Mead. You may end up as the manager of a
Sports Authority."

Since graduating from the University of Tampa in 2009, Jeff Swederski, 26, is learning to adjust his expectations.

Swederski currently works at a Walgreens in Tampa, Fla., where he alternates work as a photo specialist, cosmetics consultant and pharmacy technician.

"It's a little sad," said Swederski, who owes $60,000 in student loan debt. He also works part-time at a local law firm, filing papers and answering phones. The two jobs are barely enough to make his rent and monthly loan repayments. "The jobs I have -- I certainly didn't need to go to college in order to get them."

An increased debt load is a burden for many job seekers searching for any work they can find.

During more robust economic times, Yvonne Kline, 30, began studying for a Ph.D. in communications. She quickly racked up $138,000 in student loan debt. She still hasn't finished her degree at the University of Southern Florida. And, while her doctoral dissertation is still pending, her loan payments start next month.

Kline is looking for work in human resources, advertising or marketing. In the mean time, she makes ends meet by teaching community college classes in three different counties, and teaching a contortion class for pole dancers at Rock N Body Pole Studios in nearby Bradenton, Fla.

For now, money worries loom above all else. "My loans are coming due this month and I am going to call them and hopefully get it deferred," said Kline. "I am going to be paying that debt off for a very long time. That's not dischargeable debt either -- I can't file bankruptcy and get rid of these loans."

Debt worries aside, many 20-somethings struggle to make a modest, living wage.

Jeffrey Dalrymple, 26, of Westfield, N.J., took on a work-study job at Saint Peter's College library while an undergrad, becoming a library assistant following his graduation in 2008.

Working 32 hours a week at $16,000 a year, the job was seen as a stepping-stone toward an eventual career as a full-time librarian or museum curator.

But unable to secure a better job, Dalrymple remains at Saint Peters -- and without benefits, he's barely scraping by.

"I think a lot of people in my generation have it tough," said Dalrymple. "We are entering into a workforce that is virtually dead. The economy is on the verge of collapse."

Explaining the situation to his parents' generation is an entirely different challenge. Dalrymple can't help but take their reaction personally: "My family sees that it's my fault that I am in the predicament that I am in now."

[usaone]

Thats not typical. 96% of college Grads have jobs.

[smackdown]

USAONE... you didn't read my reply # 22 correctly. I will repeat it for you... "almost no one is seeking cross-trained personnel and nearly all job postings are for custom personnel (not work a machine, work a X-Brand machine), demonstrating a fundamental lack of skill in the management component."

In 1987, we added "e-mail" to our branch office network, installing PCs and having managers-first train in using them. Within 3 months, productivity for managers dropped off the charts as e-mail traffic went so high that in some cases-- it was evident that typing text was the sole accomplishment of the day. In 1992 we instituted "Response Portal Hour" and banned intra-office chatter when a third-party survey revealed that e-mailing took up as much as 7 of 8 hours worked. In 2006, my boss's Drivers License was revoked when she was caught texting at 100+ miles per hour steering with her knee. She was ticketed 2 weeks later for driving without a valid license. She didn't have the experience, wisdom or ability to be in her role. Business-- is relatively simple. You go into it to make profit by doing things. Technology is wonderful to watch but it doesn't do anything that affords humans a simultaneous stability.

PLEASE... the call for "technological-ability" as a job requirement is futile. We haven't had useful productivity in business for at least a decade. Execs do not grasp what their programming does. Most of it is installed infected as a means of gaining Support Contracts. Our future has no value in technology as it is employed today and it will be eliminated as we reach the bottle neck for economic recovery.