Topic: Measuring the economy
actionlynx's photo
Sun 10/07/18 09:29 AM
Show me proof of accuracy in those unemployment numbers.

I've known for 20 years that those numbers aren't accurate because they use the wrong data for measuring it. Even so, underemployed is almost as bad as being unemployed. Where's those numbers? What's the average and median income of those employed people? How does it stack up against past incomes after adjustment for inflation?

Conservatives often label Liberals as sheeple, but many Conservatives are just as bad. It's why I don't watch the news anymore. It's why I get both Forbes and Time, to balance each other's bias. TV makes it too easy to rely on a single source, and newspapers are a dying media. Getting accurate news takes more work than it used to.

Easttowest72's photo
Sun 10/07/18 09:41 AM
My company closed and I received unemployment in 2004-2005. Me going back to work didn't effect the unemployment numbers. I think a lot of people have been on the sidelines waiting for the economy to get better. I'm making more than I've ever made per hour and I'll be getting paid 48 1/2 hours this week. The job has great benefits including profit sharing and free life insurance. Wages are rising. I was hiring in making $2 an hour more than people were hired in a year ago. The economy is definitely improving.

no photo
Mon 10/08/18 05:01 AM
There is work for those who want to work. The unemployment numbers will never get down below a certain % because of the number of people who are unemployable and if I am not mistaken I think that number is around 3%

So you deduct that number from the published unemployment number. And that is the true number

actionlynx's photo
Mon 10/08/18 08:18 AM

There is work for those who want to work. The unemployment numbers will never get down below a certain % because of the number of people who are unemployable and if I am not mistaken I think that number is around 3%

So you deduct that number from the published unemployment number. And that is the true number


whoa

This is why people leave threads. Assertions without data or proof. Not to mention, it's a little bit demeaning towards others.

For instance, "There is work for those who want to work."

So if somebody can't get a job, it's always their own fault, regardless of region or circumstances?

Sometimes there just isn't suitable work available for that person. They aren't unemployable, but just aren't what employers are currently looking for.

Or maybe they lack references due to people passing away or moving away or businesses closing.

Some employers run credit checks. Maybe the person ran into some debt problems, but without work will never be able to improve their credit score.

Pizza delivery? Got to have a car. No car, no luck.

There are many reasons why a person can get turned down for a job. The onus isn't entirely on the individual seeking work. To believe it is so is a rather myopic point of view.

Easttowest72's photo
Fri 10/12/18 11:52 AM
Feds are raising rates. The road is a little bumpy but it's only a correction. Housing prices are 30% overvalued and keeping millennials out of the market. A decrease in home prices is better for the economy.

no photo
Fri 10/12/18 04:05 PM
"There is work for those who want to work."

I agree with that statement. Wholeheartedly. What it takes, is showing up everyday. Doing what they ask, even if it's dirty work. Doing your work in a timely manner. Ask questions if its something not understood. Doing a little extra, like cleaning up after yourself, or others if they don't do it. Working overtime, if it's needed. Showing up on time each day, everyday. Volunteering to do extra work. If job training is available, and you have to do it on your own time, then do it. Make yourself a valuable employee.

Pitching complaints at your employer isn't the way to get ahead.

actionlynx's photo
Fri 10/12/18 04:34 PM

"There is work for those who want to work."

I agree with that statement. Wholeheartedly. What it takes, is showing up everyday. Doing what they ask, even if it's dirty work. Doing your work in a timely manner. Ask questions if its something not understood. Doing a little extra, like cleaning up after yourself, or others if they don't do it. Working overtime, if it's needed. Showing up on time each day, everyday. Volunteering to do extra work. If job training is available, and you have to do it on your own time, then do it. Make yourself a valuable employee.

Pitching complaints at your employer isn't the way to get ahead.


Everything you stated happens **after** you have a job.

slaphead

no photo
Fri 10/12/18 06:14 PM


There is work for those who want to work. The unemployment numbers will never get down below a certain % because of the number of people who are unemployable and if I am not mistaken I think that number is around 3%

So you deduct that number from the published unemployment number. And that is the true number


whoa

This is why people leave threads. Assertions without data or proof. Not to mention, it's a little bit demeaning towards others.

For instance, "There is work for those who want to work."

So if somebody can't get a job, it's always their own fault, regardless of region or circumstances?

Sometimes there just isn't suitable work available for that person. They aren't unemployable, but just aren't what employers are currently looking for.

Or maybe they lack references due to people passing away or moving away or businesses closing.

Some employers run credit checks. Maybe the person ran into some debt problems, but without work will never be able to improve their credit score.

Pizza delivery? Got to have a car. No car, no luck.

There are many reasons why a person can get turned down for a job. The onus isn't entirely on the individual seeking work. To believe it is so is a rather myopic point of view.


My words?.. look it up brother and then comment. On fact

And if you are delivering pizzas at your age. There must be a reason.
And if there is no work in your care a. Try moving to where it is. Not rocket science
If you are actual good at whatever you do. Then get off the pot and go where it is..instead of complaining .. K ?


no photo
Fri 10/12/18 06:24 PM
There are a certain % of the population which are unemployable. Not my words.
Published. Fact

Look it up

actionlynx's photo
Fri 10/12/18 07:37 PM
Edited by actionlynx on Fri 10/12/18 08:33 PM
<snip>

slaphead

On second thought, forget it. This discussion is going nowhere. It's not worth the headaches.

Just let the thread die.
It was just about dead before we even began this tangent.


Easttowest72's photo
Sat 10/13/18 03:01 AM
Where I work they stressed attendance when I was hired. I've been there 2 month today. I've noticed my co-workers are absent a good bit. Once a month seems to be the average which is weird because vacation is tied to attendance. We get an extra 4 hours every month if we have perfect attendance. I'm taking advantage of it.

I work with a lot of women. I try my best to avoid drama and do a good job. I smile even at times I feel like I'm dying. I act interested in meetings that are stupid. I clock in 15 minutes early everyday and volunteer for overtime.

I like that money they put in my bank account every Thursday.

no photo
Sat 10/13/18 05:57 AM

Where I work they stressed attendance when I was hired. I've been there 2 month today. I've noticed my co-workers are absent a good bit. Once a month seems to be the average which is weird because vacation is tied to attendance. We get an extra 4 hours every month if we have perfect attendance. I'm taking advantage of it.

I work with a lot of women. I try my best to avoid drama and do a good job. I smile even at times I feel like I'm dying. I act interested in meetings that are stupid. I clock in 15 minutes early everyday and volunteer for overtime.

I like that money they put in my bank account every Thursday.


My point to T.

Right now, if you're vertical, it's possible to get a job. Some employers do multiple interviews, and some testing. Show up for them all, and you could get hired. Plenty of companies hire on a probationary period. Show that you're willing, and they may keep you around.

Easttowest72's photo
Sat 10/13/18 06:59 AM
I was hired in with no probation period. I've never in my life had that to happen. I was offered immediate health, dental and vision ins. I have $30,000 in free life ins. After working 1 week they paid for me and my family to go to six flags. After 3 weeks, I got paid for labor day. They fed us lunch twice since I've been working there. They gave me a $100 shoe allowance. In two months I've accrued 15 hours in vaca/bonus hours.

The downside is I get up at 3:30am, clock in at 5:15 and work till 4pm. I work hard and it's tough.

indianadave4's photo
Sat 10/13/18 05:48 PM
Edited by indianadave4 on Sat 10/13/18 05:50 PM
There are two sides to the upswing in employment:

1. The economy has made a big come back since January 2017.

2. My generation (baby boomers) are retiring en-mass. Countless numbers of jobs are opening up because those of us born between 1946 to 1964 are exiting the job market to retire.

As an electronics engineer (retired) I still have job head hunters contacting me offering open positions. Five to ten years ago this was unheard of.

My ex-wife is a retired RN and could pick up employment at any local hospital at will.

One of the problems is many of these jobs require higher education. I've been saying this day was coming 30 years ago and few believed me. I'm (gently) nudging my grand kids to go to college in a field that will show employment promise for several decades to come.

Easttowest72's photo
Fri 11/02/18 11:12 AM
250,000 jobs added in oct. Wages up 3.1% The great economy keeps growing.

msharmony's photo
Fri 11/02/18 11:34 AM


There is work for those who want to work. The unemployment numbers will never get down below a certain % because of the number of people who are unemployable and if I am not mistaken I think that number is around 3%

So you deduct that number from the published unemployment number. And that is the true number


whoa

This is why people leave threads. Assertions without data or proof. Not to mention, it's a little bit demeaning towards others.

For instance, "There is work for those who want to work."

So if somebody can't get a job, it's always their own fault, regardless of region or circumstances?

Sometimes there just isn't suitable work available for that person. They aren't unemployable, but just aren't what employers are currently looking for.

Or maybe they lack references due to people passing away or moving away or businesses closing.

Some employers run credit checks. Maybe the person ran into some debt problems, but without work will never be able to improve their credit score.

Pizza delivery? Got to have a car. No car, no luck.

There are many reasons why a person can get turned down for a job. The onus isn't entirely on the individual seeking work. To believe it is so is a rather myopic point of view.


oh my gosh, people using LOGIC. you know what action, I have to say, even though I disagree with you often (not on this, by the way) people like you and Igor and Charles and Dodo are what keeps me here. I dont know what I would do without the occasional contributions of logic mixed in with all the rhetoric and stereotypes and emotionalism.


drinker kudos to you

Easttowest72's photo
Fri 11/02/18 12:02 PM
Where I work we have people on parole. I know drug charges, embezzlement, bank robbery. One did 20 years and one 13 years. We have more felons. If bad credit kept people from working, most would be at home. I had a coworker tell me she owes the govt about 13,000. Use your friends as a reference. Your work history speaks for itself. In my interview I was asked what's the longest I've worked for a company. Teenagers should be the only ones who struggle with that. In rural areas having a car is just being responsible. It might only be a $1500 clunker but it's transportation.
A lot of these issue have nothing to do with finding employment. It's an issue of being unemployable.

msharmony's photo
Fri 11/02/18 12:12 PM
Do those felons have skin like yours? Just curious.

I ask because the truth is in any given area, an employer can have dozens or hundreds applying for the SAME job. they obviously will only have one. So they have an EXTENSIVE list of reasons they can turn you down, but none which they are REQUIRED to turn you down.

that allows them quite a bit of discretion in hiring, so people who may be 'stereotyped' as undesirable in some way can be left without that job in favor of someone else they preferred to hire out of the pool of dozens or hundreds.

its just not so simple as 'want a job, get a job'. No matter how many times the simplistic view is put forth.



Easttowest72's photo
Fri 11/02/18 12:17 PM
We have all colors. But the company stresses good attendance. That where a lot of people struggle to keep a job. We've had meetings since I was hired. The supervisor was clear that it's a business and we are all there to make money. We have too many people in my dept. A couple of my coworkers look at me when they say it. What they don't realize is I was hired to be trained for the day that they point out. We had two out this week and that's in 4 days.

actionlynx's photo
Fri 11/02/18 12:58 PM
#1) Some employers do not want personal references. They want only professional references. With baby boomers retiring and passing away, some of those professional references are disappearing.


#2) Having a car = being responsible? Maybe $1500 clunkers are available down there, but they are a rarity up here. Everybody wants Blue Book value now, which means you're looking at a minimum of $3,000 in the vast majority of cases, regardless of whether it is a private sale or a dealership. If private, you can't finance. If dealership and you have bad credit or no credit history, they won't sell a car to you for that price. They want to sell you a more expensive vehicle so that if a repo happens, they can recover decent value on the car at auction. That's a real problem for people who are living paycheck to paycheck should their car suddenly need replacement due to an accident or mechanical failure.


#3) Hopping from one job to another every few years does not necessarily make a person irresponsible or undesirable. In fact, it's very common in certain fields, such as restaurants. That's how cooks gain experience, diversity, and greater pay. It also happens in retail because as one gains experience, there's often a cap on wages unless you enter management. There are only so many management openings available at any time with any store. Either you go where the openings are, or you go to a different employer to build more diversified experience and skills which may help to land an opportunity at future advancement.


#4) How did ex-convicts even enter into this discussion??? Why many do have trouble landing employment, this seems like a massive assumption based on stereotype. There have been executives who have gone 2 - 3 years without being able to find suitable employment.

One executive was a guest on Dave Ramsey's money talk radio show several years ago stating that his list of back up jobs included pizza delivery because he knew there would eventually be some hard times and hard choices he would need to make financially.

Not to mention, there are subsidized programs that employers can participate in for hiring ex-convicts. Many places that actually hire numerous felons are part of those government programs -- because there is something in it for themselves too.


#5) There are many people who struggle with psychological problems, not major mental illnesses but acquired behavior developed from life experiences. These include trauma, stress, and situational depression. This becomes a hindrance until treatment and therapy enables them to learn new coping strategies so these problems do not hold them back socially or financially.

********

In the end, there are situations that often can only be resolved through time and perseverance. There simply is no quick fix for some life situations. Sometimes being unemployed or underemployed actually falls into that category.