Underemployment Surges to 19.9% in February

[Cali_Democrat]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/146453/Gallup-Finds-Unemployment-Hitting-February.aspx

Underemployment, a measure that combines part-time workers wanting full-time work with those who are unemployed, surged in February to 19.9%. This resulted from the combination of a sharp 0.5-point increase since the end of January in the percentage unemployed and a 0.5-point increase in the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work. Underemployment is now higher than it was at this point a year ago (19.7%).



More on this:

There is essentially no difference between the unemployment rate now and the one at this time a year ago; January's rate, in contrast, showed a 1.1-percentage-point year-over-year improvement. This suggests that the real U.S. jobs situation worsened in February. That is, jobs are relatively less available now than in January.

In the broader underemployment picture, the situation is much the same. January's year-over-year improvement of 1.0 points became -0.2 points in February. In turn, this suggests job market conditions in terms of underemployment also worsened during February.

This deterioration in the jobs situation combined with surging gas prices, budget battles at the federal and state level, and declines on Wall Street tend to explain the recent plunge Gallup recorded in consumer confidence. They also align with the continued "new normal" spending patterns of early 2011. Although Gallup's Job Creation Index has improved over the past year and showed modest improvement in February, the improvement has not been significant enough to positively affect underemployment and unemployment.

Read more...http://www.gallup.com/poll/146453/Gallup-Finds-Unemployment-Hitting-February.aspx

[ClarkUSA]

1. Republicans are so happy at this, I'm sure. Their obstructionism is working.

Then there's this headline:

"Jobless Claims in U.S. Fall to 368,000, Lowest Since 2008"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4755219&mesg_id=4755219

[golfguru]

14. But Obama will be blamed for the underemployed

[Skink]

2. The difference is there are no underemployment checks.

[WolfoftheWild]

3. awww, you were trying to get out in front of the good news about the Unemployment rate with this?

how do you like these apples?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=622434&mesg_id=622434

[PVnRT]

4. Those fuckers should be happy they just have a job!

Whiny pony-wanters!

[WolfoftheWild]

12. no good news is good news, right?

[great white snark]

15. Come on, that wasn't even remotely implied.

That would be like me saying "all the naysayers claim to support the unemployed but they are the first to call Obama a caver for extending Bush tax cuts, even though that compromise also extended unemployment benefits."

That would imply rank hypocrisy.

[JoePhilly]

5. The search for bad news continues.

When the unemployment rate dropped to 9.6%, then 9.4%, then 9.0%, we were told that it was bad news because everyone stopped looking.

Now that its dropped to below 8.9%, the search for a replacement complaint begins anew.

[babylonsister]

6. Funny how that works. nt

[Cali_Democrat]

8. 700,000 people left the workforce from October to Feb.

This is a big factor in the reduction in the unemployment rate. The Labor force participation rate remains at a 25 year low of 64.2%.

If you account for the Birth/Death Adjustment, we only added 112,000 jobs in Feb.

BTW, we need to add 150,000 jobs a month just to keep up with population growth.

[ProSense]

7. "Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment"

Similar to ADP, Gallup is not as reliable as BLS data.

According to Gallup, the unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in December (down from 10.1 percent in October) and underemployment dropped from 18.8 percent in October to 17.2 percent in December.

[ClarkUSA]

9. Are Gallup's numbers accurate? They don't jive at all with the latest federal report.

The unemployment rate is now at the lowest point since April 2009. It has been falling for three months, down from 9.8 percent in November, marking the sharpest three-month decline since 1983...

When factoring in the number of part-time workers who would rather be working full time and those who have given up looking for work, the percentage of "underemployed" people dropped to 15.9 percent in February. That's the lowest in nearly two years.

The positive news on the hiring front comes as the larger economy is gaining momentum...

The number of "long-term" unemployed, people out of work six months or more, sank to 5.99 million, a decline of 217,000 from January.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_economy

Of course, Nate Silver beat Gallup at predicting 2008 and 2010 electoral outcomes, so perhaps the fact that Gallup didn't make a seasonal adjustment on their methodology may account for the discrepancy.

Better wait for the federal report next time. They have been doing it since the Civil War and know how to do it right the first time.

[stevenleser]

10. They are not seasonably adjusted. They conflict with other gallup measurements

The measurement that everyone talks about with Gallup is their job market averages which are at 2 year highs:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/110134/Gallup-Daily-US-Job-Market.aspx

In this, gallup takes a poll of workers at businesses throughout the country and asks them if their companies are hiring, firing or neither. The economy looks very good right now by this measurement.

[ClarkUSA]

11. Thanks for the explanation. The OP would be better off with this hard data -->

Link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x622550

[mkultra]

13. as things improve, people migrate from Unemployed to underemployed

and then eventually employed. Its the natural cycle that you are seeing as hours worked increase.

[Teaser]

16. Obama is responsible for more suffering than STALIN.

Damn his eyes. DAMN HIS EYES TO HELL.

[bvar22]

17. Shhhhh!

You're using Reality to disrupt the Mission Accomplished campaign Parade.
Shame on you.


Who represents these people, the Lower 98%?