Us unemployment


Why the Occupy Wall Street protesters are so damn angry

It may be a movement with no clear leadership or aims, but a look at these graphs — showing growing unemployment rates in the US compared to the growing level of corporate profits — and it’s no surprise why Americans are protesting.

Crikey Says: A pretty grim set of numbers

President Obama take the nation through the numbers of his jobs package plan Thursday night (US time) in his address to Congress. In the meantime, the numbers are in on his latest approval rating, and it’s the worst of his presidency.

Huffington: unemployment debacle highlights a splintered system

By the end of this week around 2.5 million unemployed Americans will be cut off from government benefits. The fact that the US has been incapable of lowering its unemployment rate speaks volumes about the current political landscape, writes Arianna Huffington.

Will the US always suffer high unemployment?

Massive technological changes have made many jobs redundant in the last few years. Technology won’t destroy employment rates forever, but it will make economic recovery more difficult.

Interest rates on US agenda as job figures improve

Interest rates rises have returned to the American political and business agenda, hurried on by the huge improvement in US unemployment in November.

Forty-nine million Americans go hungry

For all the talk of a recovery in the US economy, a grim reality has been outlined in Washington for all the world to see: America can’t feed all its 303 million people, with one in seven going short at some stage in a week.

G20 dreaming on economic upturn

Finance ministers of the world’s top 20 economies have indulged in one of the more fruitless gabfests. Instead of being united by fear and concern for the slow US economy, they are just linked by their usual competing interests,.

Political economy: US Fed says we’re saved

The US Fed says economic activity has picked up… but household spending is sluggish, interest rates will remain the same, and the economy is still shedding jobs. No surprises here, says Henry Thornton.

Fed’s Thursday statement the key to US concerns

Forrget China, South Korea, and even Japan: when it comes to confidence in the global financial system, the world remains firmly coupled to the US.

Political economy: the jobs challenge

The good news is that the US downturn is in the process of bottoming, though jobs are still falling, with around 15 million workers unemployed, writes Henry Thornton.

US unemployment a social powder keg

On the surface, the latest US unemployment data is better than expected, but it hides the real continuing pain and agony across thousands of American cities and towns.

The Dyer Index: US economy has no gas in the tank

The US economy is dry, with consumer spending weak, personal income down and consumer credit still falling. Glenn Dyer crunches the numbers.

Affirmative action: good if you’re white and female

Judging on US unemployment figures, white women are the real winners when it comes to the controversial issue of affirmative action.

The difficult job of job-creation

You can’t build new jobs on a rotten old framework, says Bill Fleckenstein. Until some structural repair is done, the US labour market will remain unstable.

33.8 million Americans now using food stamps

Enrollment in America’s foodstamp program has hit a record 33.8 million people, with 1.2 million new people joining over the last two months.

VIDEO: US jobs take a dive, pundits react

467,000 American jobs were lost in June, with the unemployment rate jumping to 9.5%, according to the latest economic data. Here’s how the talking heads saw it Stateside.

Jobless numbers skyrocket in Struggletown, USA

America’s unemployment rate could double by midyear, writes Glenn Dyer.

US braces for “involuntary part-time work”

The US unemployment and jobs figures for January are out tonight and will remind everyone just how big the US slowdown really is, writes Glenn Dyer.