Re: let's take this apart bit by bitcheshire23October 17 2004, 07:34:03 UTC
Our "unemployment" rate is at 5.4%, sure. But please bear in mind that this only counts the people who are actually receiving UI benefit checks.
- It does not count the people who "voluntarily" left their jobs for what the local benefits office did not consider a "sufficiently compelling reason", or those who were fired for "misconduct" such as "excessive absenteeism" caused by severe medical, transportation, or child care problems. - It does not, at least in the state of New York, count those people who are "self-employed", even if their self-employment is a fledgling rock band that just received its first-ever paying gig of $300 split five ways. (I'm serious - my mother used to work for a UI benefits office, and the way the law here works, because the band practices 5 days a week, and has ever brought in any income, the guy in the band lost his ENTIRE benefit claim over the $50 from his first paying gig.) - It does not count those people who were unable to FIND a job over the course of the 26 weeks of unemployment checks. I know a lot of IT folks who spent a lot of time out of work - in one case, THREE YEARS - because they can't find anything in their field, and because everyone else considers them "overqualified". - It also does not count the underemployed. Sure, a low "unemployment" rate might be nice, but when you have people working two or three barely-above-minimum-wage jobs just to try to keep on top of their bills, there's a problem. And before you tell me that they should "just cut expenses", please do the math and tell me exactly WHAT they should be cutting, thanks.
- It does not count the people who "voluntarily" left their jobs for what the local benefits office did not consider a "sufficiently compelling reason", or those who were fired for "misconduct" such as "excessive absenteeism" caused by severe medical, transportation, or child care problems.
- It does not, at least in the state of New York, count those people who are "self-employed", even if their self-employment is a fledgling rock band that just received its first-ever paying gig of $300 split five ways. (I'm serious - my mother used to work for a UI benefits office, and the way the law here works, because the band practices 5 days a week, and has ever brought in any income, the guy in the band lost his ENTIRE benefit claim over the $50 from his first paying gig.)
- It does not count those people who were unable to FIND a job over the course of the 26 weeks of unemployment checks. I know a lot of IT folks who spent a lot of time out of work - in one case, THREE YEARS - because they can't find anything in their field, and because everyone else considers them "overqualified".
- It also does not count the underemployed. Sure, a low "unemployment" rate might be nice, but when you have people working two or three barely-above-minimum-wage jobs just to try to keep on top of their bills, there's a problem. And before you tell me that they should "just cut expenses", please do the math and tell me exactly WHAT they should be cutting, thanks.
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