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Friday, November 13, 2009
The right number

Last week, on Friday, the U.S. Labor Department released its monthly report on the national job situation. The headline, of course, was the top number, the 10.2 percent unemployment rate. Earlier this week I got a call from Karen, who lives in New Jersey.

She said that the number doesn't tell the story and she's right. It really doesn't talk about her situation and lots of other people who are severely underemployed. 

In 2000, Karen's environmental company was looking to lay off some people and Karen, an executive, raised her hand. She had a son who was really skilled in a sport and she needed to squire him around the country as he advanced to Olympic levels. Fast-forward to 2009 and Karen, now 59, can't get a job. Theoretically, she's not unemployed, because she does some consulting and other self-employment gigs to bring in some money. Essentially, she relies on her husband.

But, she'd much rather be employed and she is constantly looking for a job in her field. So where does she fit in? She says the work she is doing is nowhere near what she's capable of doing. Anybody else in this boat?   

FYI, the unemployment rate is a fraction. On the bottom is the labor force -- that means everyone who wants to work, is available to work, and is actively looking for a job. If you are a young mother who quit to stay with your baby, you are not in the labor force. But if you fill out an application today and you are available for work when you are called, you are back in the labor force. The top line is the number of unemployed people -- people without work. Divide the bottom number into the top number and multiply that by 10 and you have the unemployment rate. 

Posted by Jane Von Bergen @ 3:25 AM  Permalink | Post a comment
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About Jane M. Von Bergen
Jane M. Von Bergen covers workplace issues, health insurance and organized labor for the Philadelphia Inquirer. A longtime business writer, she is now covering her second recession. Von Bergen began her reporting career in fourth grade and then married into it, falling in love with a photographer she met working while working for her college newspaper. They have two college-age sons, neither of whom is studying journalism.
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