so..in researching unemployment,I found some old DU gems

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x3263346
Outsourcing jobs and Insourcing workers: Report on NOW infuriated me
We've been complaining about the outsourcing of jobs from the USA to India and other countries, but last night I was just totally blown away to hear workers in Tennessee and Orlando, Florida tell how they have been let go from their jobs but that workers from India have been brought in as "guest workers" and the Americans have to train them how to do thei same work they were fired from.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2475273#2475295
Center for American Progress outsourcing statistics...
Edited on Wed Feb-22-06 01:45 PM by MadMaddie
These statistics were found at
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF...

Jobs Lost to Date* Projected Job Loss Jobs at Risk
300,000-995,000 3.3 million-6 million 14.1 million
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

300,000-500,000 3.3 million over 15 years 14.1 million
(Goldman Sachs) (Forrester Research) (UC Berkeley)

400,000-500,000 6 million over 10 years
(Business Week) (Goldman Sachs)

995,000
(economy.com)

* The total size of the U.S. Labor Force is 140 million jobs

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x121275

Jobs lost by state ..... thanks to the trade deals... 1994-2000
http://www.epinet.org/Issuebriefs/ib184/ib184.pdf


Changes due to growth in:
Exports Imports Trade balance

State (jobs gained) (jobs lost) (net jobs gained or lost)
Alabama 40,703 -103,943 -63,239
Alaska 2,549 -9,521 -6,972
Arizona 42,597 -75,058 -32,461
Arkansas 26,860 -64,329 -37,469
California 309,877 -619,639 -309,762
Colorado 35,417 -70,400 -34,982
Connecticut 48,776 -80,206 -31,431
Delaware 11,818 -18,286 -6,467
District of Columbia 6,042 -12,600 -6,558
Florida 96,523 -196,570 -100,047
Georgia 69,340 -159,076 -89,736
Hawaii 5,299 -12,416 -7,116
Idaho 9,155 -20,176 -11,021
Illinois 153,399 -292,936 -139,537
Indiana 86,022 -188,895 -102,873
Iowa 29,404 -61,175 -31,770
Kansas 27,625 -50,873 -23,248
Kentucky 38,288 -89,236 -50,948
Louisiana 29,190 -74,130 -44,940
Maine 9,617 -31,974 -22,357
Maryland 32,116 -63,173 -31,057
Massachusetts 80,722 -145,156 -64,434
Michigan 122,976 -275,037 -152,061
Minnesota 58,251 -108,176 -49,925
Mississippi 21,676 -63,014 -41,338
Missouri 59,107 -127,499 -68,392
Montana 4,820 -12,341 -7,521
Nebraska 15,496 -30,808 -15,312
Nevada 13,840 -30,333 -16,493
New Hampshire 17,584 -30,520 -12,936
New Jersey 88,487 -173,236 -84,749
New Mexico 12,732 -29,465 -16,733
New York 156,925 -336,213 -179,288
North Carolina 92,573 -225,792 -133,219
North Dakota 4,349 -10,136 -5,788
Ohio 155,688 -290,827 -135,139
Oklahoma 27,572 -69,838 -42,266
Oregon 31,966 -73,090 -41,124
Pennsylvania 137,206 -279,427 -142,221
Rhode Island 20,887 -50,052 -29,164
South Carolina 51,185 -105,418 -54,233
South Dakota 8,105 -16,563 -8,458
Tennessee 62,995 -159,350 -96,355
Texas 187,214 -414,774 -227,559
Utah 19,706 -42,228 -22,523
Vermont 7,753 -14,036 -6,283
Virginia 53,045 -119,129 -66,083
Washington 52,885 -98,624 -45,739
West Virginia 14,207 -28,666 -14,458
Wisconsin 76,981 -150,458 -73,476
Wyoming 3,213 -10,189 -6,977

Total 2,770,762 -5,815,004 -3,044,241


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x22818
Webb response transcript

Economy

When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it's nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.

Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.

In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.

In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.

And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in 10 years, and the Senate will soon follow. We've introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We've established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We're working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.



more to follow...it's interesting.at least WE are consistent.

[w8liftinglady]

1. A Week of Ugly Economic News

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3145413#3146802

A Week of Ugly Economic News

by Tula Connell, Mar 2, 2007

What to make of the nation’s economy after a week of mostly unpleasant indicators? The Dow plummeting more than 400 points on Tuesday may be a “correction” or may be something bigger.

Of greater portent for the near future—and of more significance to most working families—are several other stats that came out this week Let’s take a look.

* New home sales drop 16 percent in January. At the same time, home owners with subprime mortgages are getting hit with new monthly mortgages they can’t afford. Some 20 percent of subprime loans at the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, Countrywide Financial, are more than 60 days late and late payments are increasing in the non-subprime mortgage markets.

* Working people’s personal savings are nearly nonexistent. Two-thirds of workers have less than $50,000 saved—with 39 percent having less than $10,000 set aside for retirement, according to new numbers released from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Yet, recent EBRI research shows individuals age 55 who live to age 90 would need to have accumulated $210,000 (by age 65) to pay for insurance to supplement Medicare and out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement—far more than all but about 10 percent of workers currently have saved for all retirement expenses.

* Worse, consumers spend more than they earn. American workers spent more than they earned last year as the economy steamed ahead, pushing the personal savings rate to negative 1.0 percent, the deepest hole since the 1930s Depression, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. Meaning not only did Americans spend all their income, they dug into savings and used credit to buy more.

* More and more info tech jobs are being exported overseas. We noted earlier this week that a new report from the Brookings Institution finds 2.4 million jobs in some 250 U.S. cities will be sent overseas between 2004 and 2015.

* U.S. trade deficit is in the tank. The United States ran a record trade deficit in 2006 for the fifth consecutive year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau . The bureau said that the trade deficit, or gap between what the United States sells abroad and what it imports, reached $763.3 billion last year, a 6.5 percent increase over the year before. To deflect focus on this massive deficit, the Bush administration has been touting a recent increase in U.S. exports. But while the nation’s exports have boosted profits for U.S. companies, “they have not meant more jobs for American factory workers,” according to a recent New York Times article.

* Central banks are diversifying away from the dollar. A record trade deficit, increased foreign holdings of U.S. debt, an out-of-control federal budget and a negative savings rate make the dollar an unattractive currency. Here’s how Bonddad puts it on The Agonist:

The short version is simple: The U.S. is borrowing today hoping the growth rate will be fast enough to help us pay down the debt. However, there is nothing extraordinary about the current U.S. growth rate compared to other expansions. Our current growth rate is on par with the growth rate of the last 25 years. In short, we are borrowing to achieve the same growth rate we have always had during an expansion.

So the Bush administration is taking the nation deep into debt just to achieve the modest growth we’ve made in the past without hocking our children’s future.

Given these recent reports, it’s no surprise that today, a Reuters/University of Michigan report shows U.S. consumer confidence fell last month from a two-year high, declining to 91.3 in February, a five-month low, from 96.9 in January.

While the Wall Street crowd fixates on the stock market, the economic indicators that make or break the financial threads working people sew together every day also need addressing—and fast. Because here’s what’s not working: Bush’s failed trade deals, lack of attention to creating fiscal policies that encourage U.S. corporations to keep jobs in this country and vitriolic opposition to strengthening America’s middle class by such measures as leveling the playing field for workers to form unions.

[w8liftinglady]

2. White House Official Seeks Welfare Changes

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1948292

Saturday November 26, 2005 8:16 AM

By KEVIN FREKING

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The administration's point man on tightening
welfare requirements says he senses that Congress is closer to making
significant changes to the program than at any time during President
Bush's tenure.

"I can almost taste it," said Wade Horn, an assistant secretary
within the Health and Human Services Department.

Democratic lawmakers don't believe Horn is correct, but say that
if he is, the overhaul will occur without bipartisan support.

Bush has proposed that participants work longer hours to maintain
eligibility for cash assistance and other forms of aid. He also wants
to raise the bar for states by requiring that a greater percentage of
their welfare population find work - or the states risk financial
penalties.

[w8liftinglady]

3. Kerry Says Bush Wrong for Choosing Tax Breaks for Outsourcing

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x807426

Kerry Says Bush Wrong for Choosing Tax Breaks for Outsourcing Instead of Creating Jobs Instead of Creating Jobs; Outlines Plan during N.C. Town Hall


To: National Desk, Political Correspondent

Contact: Allison Dobson of Kerry-Edwards 2004, 202-464-2800; Web: http://www.johnkerry.com

GREENSBORO, N.C., Sept. 7 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry Tuesday held a town hall meeting in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he pledged to move America in a new direction by putting an end to tax breaks that reward companies for shipping American jobs overseas.

While George Bush has chosen to support a tax code that rewards outsourcing and moved America in the wrong direction with record job loss and low-paying jobs, Kerry stressed today that his plan will make America stronger at home by creating and keeping good-paying jobs in America.

"Because of George Bush's wrong choices, this country is continuing to ship good jobs overseas -- jobs with good wages and good benefits," Kerry said. "All across America, companies have shut their doors, putting hardworking people out of a job, leaving entire communities without help or hope. And you know what George W. Bush's choice is? You know it's the wrong one. He's actually encouraging the export of American jobs."

When it comes to keeping jobs in America, George W. Bush has made the wrong choice for America. Under his watch, our nation is moving in the wrong direction and shipping jobs overseas in record numbers. Over the last three years, America has lost 2.7 million manufacturing jobs.

In the face of this failure, Bush administration officials have consistently defended outsourcing. Bush's Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors N. Gregory Mankiw called outsourcing "a good thing," and just last week, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said that it creates jobs. Treasury Secretary John Snow once ran a company that sent jobs abroad, and the president himself was caught trying to name a CEO who outsourced jobs to be the nation's manufacturing czar.

As Kerry noted today, the Bush Treasury Department has even wrongly proposed more tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas, saying we should we should consider paying for these new tax breaks by raising taxes on companies that export U.S. products.

"Today, the tax code actually does something that's right," Kerry said. "It actually gives tax breaks to companies that export American products. If they sell more products overseas and create jobs here at home, they pay lower taxes so they can grow and expand and hire more people. Sounds like a pretty good idea, right? But George W. Bush doesn't think so. He's wrong again. He wants to end the good tax incentives that help US companies sell more and hire more."

John Kerry and John Edwards know America needs to move in a new direction, and they have a plan that ends tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.

While Bush chooses tax breaks for outsourcing, the Kerry- Edwards plan will end the tax breaks that encourage companies to ship jobs overseas and use the savings to reward companies that create jobs in America. Under their plan, 99 percent of companies will pay lower taxes but no company will pay lower taxes just because it creates jobs overseas.

"Let me say it plainly: it is wrong to give tax breaks to companies that ship our jobs overseas," Kerry said. "So we're going to set a new direction for America. We're going to close the tax loopholes that reward companies for shipping jobs overseas, and we're going to reward companies that believe that American workers do the best job in the world."

The Kerry-Edwards plan to create and keep jobs in America is a key part of their broader economic plan which includes enforcing our trade agreements, cutting the budget deficit, reining in the spiraling costs of health care, moving America towards energy independence and investing in education and technology.

---

[w8liftinglady]

4. AP Investigation: Banks sought foreign workers

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3717478

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Banks collecting billions of dollars in federal bailout money sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers to the U.S. for high-paying jobs, according to an Associated Press review of visa applications.

The dozen banks receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for positions that included senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. The average annual salary for those jobs was $90,721, nearly twice the median income for all American households.

The figures are significant because they show that the bailed-out banks, being kept afloat with U.S. taxpayer money, actively sought to hire foreign workers instead of American workers. As the economic collapse worsened last year — with huge numbers of bank employees laid off — the numbers of visas sought by the dozen banks in AP's analysis increased by nearly one-third, from 3,258 in fiscal 2007 to 4,163 in fiscal 2008."

[w8liftinglady]

5. Robber Baron Capitalism, Outsourcing, and Rollerball

http://www.democraticunderground.com/articles/06/04/01_rollerball.html

The Auto Industry has a lot in common with the film "Rollerball." Not the shitty remake; the original with James Caan. Both games are rigged, and the worst stacked deck of all is called Outsourcing. Or "not making it ourselves; instead we lowball it to someone else and make them put the screws to their workers to meet our ridiculously low buying price." You as the Auto Worker and You as the consumer are not supposed to win. You are not supposed to get a good or even fair deal. The only rule of the game is: you lose. And that is what started everything.

By the way, immigration for the purpose of getting "guest workers" is just home-grown, localized outsourcing, and Outsourcing is nothing new. Capitalists have been doing it for centuries.

Long ago, car companies built every single part for their products. They were fucking proud of it. When I was in grade school, we all got in out Model "T" bus (kidding) and took a tour of the Ford Rouge Plant in River Rouge, Michigan. This was a really popular tour. Free to everyone. Families took this tour as often as they went to Greenfield Village or the Henry Ford Museum, and if you're from Michigan, you know that people come from Thailand to see them. This was a really big deal; obviously something I've remembered in detail since 1961.

Ford took you all over the place. It's still there and they still give tours, they just don't build any cars there anymore.

I still remember the tour guide saying..."They only things that we don't make here are tires and glass." They took us to the giant coke ovens where they reduced the coal to coke for the blast furnaces. They made their own steel. They did their own chrome plating for Dog's sake. They took Coal, Iron Ore, Wiring, Glass, and Tires in one end, any Fords came out the other.

As late as 1975 Ford was still doing their own plastics. Then came outsourcing. The Capitalists in charge of the corporations could not drool enough.

[w8liftinglady]

6. U.S. Jobs Lost to Outsourcing Underestimated

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2519130

Many more U.S. jobs shifted overseas in 2004 than reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, including white-collar IT, call center and other service jobs moving to India, a report from Cornell and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Newswise — A just-released report to a bipartisan Congressional commission documented 48,417 U.S. jobs outsourced to other countries or publicly announced as being scheduled for outsourcing, from January through March 2004. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics had reported that only 4,633 private-sector jobs in companies with more than 50 employees were lost during that time period, a gross underestimation, warn the report's authors.

The new report is from two labor experts at Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, who obtained their information through online tracking of media reports, corporate research and the creation of a database of information on all production shifts announced or confirmed in the media. Their report was commissioned by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which sought the information because there is no government-mandated reporting system to track production shifts from the United States to other countries.

The authors believe their methodology only captures one-third of all production shifts in most cases, which, if true, would bring the actual number of jobs lost to outsourcing in 2004 to 406,000 by year's end, compared with 204,000 in 2001. "We know we're not capturing all the numbers because companies are wary about the negative publicity and often don't share it fully with reporters," said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of Labor Education Research at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and co-author of the study, along with Stephanie Luce, research director and assistant professor at U.Mass.-Amherst.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/507685 /

[w8liftinglady]

7. US job outsourcing on rise

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x22726

Updated: 10-30-2006

New Delhi: US engineering jobs that are being 'offshored' to countries like India and China, is 'gaining momentum', according to a recent study, made by the Durham, NC-based Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering Research.

The study titled 'Industry Trends in Engineering Offshoring', challenges the often-accepted view that China and India 'graduate 12 times the number of engineers as the US.

Until recently, the most commonly cited statistics were that the US graduates 70,000 engineers a year versus 600,000 in China and 350,000 in India.

It said that a more realistic comparison of total bachelors and sub-baccalaureate engineering, computer science and information technologies for 2004 was 222,335 (in the US), 644,106 (in China) and 215,000 (in India).

http://www.andhracafe.com/index.php?m=show&id=11747

[w8liftinglady]

8. The Outsourcing Tragedy

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/CrisisPapers/188

Tue Aug 05th 2008,

My computer and I have been through a bad spell these past couple of weeks.

First, my router/modem developed a terminal malfunction, and then my new anti-virus software failed to install. Thankfully, three very capable and patient gentlemen at various technical support facilities found solutions.

These three gentlemen were, respectively, from India, the Philippines, and once again, India.

If you or someone in your family is about to graduate with a degree in computer science, don't expect to find a job in the U.S. any time soon.

(Great post with interesting references)

[w8liftinglady]

9. kicky-poo