Nothing Human Is Alien
8th May 2011, 17:48
Figures from two articles I've recently come across:
The share of the population that is working fell to its lowest level last year since women started entering the workforce in large numbers three decades ago, a USA TODAY analysis finds.
Only 45.4% of Americans had jobs in 2010, the lowest rate since 1983 and down from a peak of 49.3% in 2000. Last year, just 66.8% of men had jobs, the lowest on record.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2011-04-13-more-americans-leave-labor-force.htm
...The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task discusses the state of the middle class with Sherle Schwenninger, director of economic growth and American strategy programs at the New America Foundation. Schwenninger's recent report "The American Middle Class Under Stress" has some stunning facts that highlight the struggles the average American is having getting a decent-paying job and keeping up with rising cost of living.
Here are just some of the sobering facts:
-- There are 8.5 million people receiving unemployment insurance and over 40 million receiving food stamps.
-- At the current pace of job creation, the economy won't return to full employment until 2018.
-- Middle-income jobs are disappearing from the economy. The share of middle-income jobs in the United States has fallen from 52% in 1980 to 42% in 2010.
-- Middle-income jobs have been replaced by low-income jobs, which now make up 41% of total employment.
-- 17 million Americans with college degrees are doing jobs that require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor's degree.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/america-middle-class-crisis-sobering-facts-141947274.html
The share of the population that is working fell to its lowest level last year since women started entering the workforce in large numbers three decades ago, a USA TODAY analysis finds.
Only 45.4% of Americans had jobs in 2010, the lowest rate since 1983 and down from a peak of 49.3% in 2000. Last year, just 66.8% of men had jobs, the lowest on record.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2011-04-13-more-americans-leave-labor-force.htm
...The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task discusses the state of the middle class with Sherle Schwenninger, director of economic growth and American strategy programs at the New America Foundation. Schwenninger's recent report "The American Middle Class Under Stress" has some stunning facts that highlight the struggles the average American is having getting a decent-paying job and keeping up with rising cost of living.
Here are just some of the sobering facts:
-- There are 8.5 million people receiving unemployment insurance and over 40 million receiving food stamps.
-- At the current pace of job creation, the economy won't return to full employment until 2018.
-- Middle-income jobs are disappearing from the economy. The share of middle-income jobs in the United States has fallen from 52% in 1980 to 42% in 2010.
-- Middle-income jobs have been replaced by low-income jobs, which now make up 41% of total employment.
-- 17 million Americans with college degrees are doing jobs that require less than the skill levels associated with a bachelor's degree.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/america-middle-class-crisis-sobering-facts-141947274.html