US unemployment hits 26 year high

[worlds beyond]

figures just out, no written news coverage just yet!

"US employers cut 216,000 jobs in August, pushing the jobless rate up to 9.7%, a 26-year peak, official figures show."

[rhydra]

Wasn't that when Reagan was in office?

[brainstormed]

Those are the official figures, the real number of unemployed folks is much higher.

They are setting the stage for something big.

[worlds beyond]

of course, as with UK and everywhere else, there will be millions of "invisible" unemployed missing off the stats.. I think most folks aware of this.. and if not.. then just the offical figures alone speak volumes! :)

[brainstormed]

These numbers speak volumes, because they are not just numbers. These are people. I am torn, because as some become disillusioned with the 'system', they awaken into a new consciousness. By the same token, some get trapped in the abyss of despair- and do nothing.

Tragic and hopeful at the same time.

[motleyhoo]

"26 year high" is actually incorrect. It actually goes back much further than that because 26 years ago they were using a much more conservative formula to calculate unemployment. If we used the same formula that was being used 26 years ago, unemployment right now would be over 13%. If we used the formula that was used in 1930 unemployment right now would be almost 18%.

There is much that the media is failing to report, such as last year's college graduates who have all moved back in with their parents and are unemployed, or the number of unemployed who have fallen off of the rolls because their benefits have expired, or the fact that our economy must create 150,000 jobs per month just to break even. That means the unemployment number is much higher than what they are reporting.

This is getting close to levels that should be considered a Depression. The only reason we are not seeing bread lines and chaos in the streets yet is because we have safety nets like Social Security and Medicare which did not exist in 1930. But, it was just in the news last night that 200,000 new people were added to the Food Stamp program this year alone, and that number is rising every day.

This is only going to exacerbate the housing problem in that foreclosures will continue to rise, which will keep the deflationary trend in real estate going. This will in turn cause an increase in existing home sales which the media will try to spin as being positive, but which is in fact a sign that long-term investors are swooping in to exploit the misery of others.

.