1 in 5 working age American men don't have a job

[alienlovechild 75]

One in five working-age American men does not have a job, according to the latest federal employment numbers, an all-time high that illustrates the extraordinary toll this recession has taken on male-dominated professions in particular.

Men are more likely to work in sectors like manufacturing and construction that are more sensitive to economic downturns. But this downturn has been particularly brutal on those industries, leading some observers to call it a "mancession."

Only 80.3 percent of men age 25-54 had jobs in December -- the lowest since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started collecting that data in 1948 -- at which point the figure was 94.4 percent. When the recession began in December 2007, less than 13 percent of men in this age bracket were out of work.

The numbers are derived from what the BLS calls its employment-to-population ratio. While the non-working number in this case includes men who have voluntarily chosen to stay out of the workforce, such as students and stay-at-home dads, in many ways it provides a clearer picture of the depth of the nation's unemployment situation.

The percentage of women age 25-54 who have work is also down, but not as dramatically. Some 69.1 percent of those women are employed, about the same as in 1998. Women dominate the fields such as education, health services and government. The health industry and government payrolls are booming, and are expected to continue growing, thanks to an aging population and recently-enacted stimulus programs to boost the economy, respectively.

Overall, the percentage of Americans over age 16 that holds a job continues to slide, reaching 58.2 percent. That's a 25-year-low.

"It is striking that we have managed to reverse more than 26 years of increasing labor force participation in this downturn," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Economic and Policy Research. "It will take a long time for workers to get over the effects of this recession."

According to the BLS, employers nationwide shed an additional 85,000 jobs in December. Analysts had predicted a decline of just 10,000 jobs.

The extent of the job losses indicates that the optimism generated by last month's slight dip in the unemployment rate (from 10.2 to 10 percent) may have been unfounded. Revised figures released today show an actual increase of 4,000 jobs in November - but that's now been offset 20 times over in December.

More than 6.3 million people are looking for jobs, according to the new figures, a 14 percent increase from December 2008.

Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, points out that 1.9 million workers have left the labor force since May. These are people who are either seeking work or working. More than 660,000 workers left the labor force between November and December alone.

"Absent this flight from the labor market the unemployment rate would have risen substantially in December, up 0.4 percent, rather than hold steady," he said in an e-mail.

Mishel also notes that the population has grown, which should have led to a rise in the labor force. Instead, just the opposite has happened. He writes:

Over the last year, the working age population grew by 0.8 percent, so we would have expected a growth in the labor force, those working or seeking work, by 1.2 million people. Instead, the labor force fell 1.5 million, indicating that the labor force is missing 2.7 million people, more than half of whom abandoned the labor force. The erosion of the labor force started occurring after May, with 271,000 withdrawing each month for the last seven months. Two-thirds of those fleeing the labor market since May have been adult men.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/08/1...c_n_415984.html

[Nessa 23]

blame those dayum illegals

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Great job Obama. The most inept President we have ever had. I wonder if in four years he will ever accomplish ANYthing. This is the problem with hiring (voting for) a guy that has never had a job requiring documented results.

[alienlovechild 75]

Great job Obama. The most inept President we have ever had. I wonder if in four years he will ever accomplish ANYthing. This is the problem with hiring (voting for) a guy that has never had a job requiring documented results.

We can't criticize him until his four years are up. Anything less is a premature judgment and downright unpatriotic.

Luckily, most of the unemployed men are too lazy to protest or say anything.

[The_Dude 1,142]

We can't criticize him until his four years are up. Anything less is a premature judgment and downright unpatriotic.

Luckily, most of the unemployed men are too lazy to protest or say anything.

You are certainly entitled to criticize the president if you don't like his policies. But come on, you lot have criticized him even before he even took office. I wager you would find fault in anything he does.

[alienlovechild 75]

You are certainly entitled to criticize the president if you don't like his policies. But come on, you lot have criticized him even before he even took office. I wager you would find fault in anything he does.

Of course you think 20% unemployment of working-age men is Obama's version of a mass vacation.

Remember Obozo came up the worthless job stimulus plan that people like you still defend.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Of course you think 20% unemployment of working-age men is Obama's version of a mass vacation.

Remember Obozo came up the worthless job stimulus plan that people like you still defend.

Of course it's not an acceptable number. But unlike you, I realize that this is a macro problem that doesn't have some light-switch response that will stimulate the economy and create 20 million jobs in an instant.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Bush would have put everyone to work at Halliburton!

[Craneman 2]

Of course it's not an acceptable number. But unlike you, I realize that this is a macro problem that doesn't have some light-switch response that will stimulate the economy and create 20 million jobs in an instant.

We have a $400,000,000.00 project ready to go.

Been in political holding pattern waiting for government approval, for almost a year now.

All it would take is a fone call from the beuracrats and 2,000 construction workers go to work tomorrow.

Not a penny of government stimulus money involved, all private sector, but then that is the problem.

No government money, no govenrment control, no go.

This project is getting ready to go to India, more jobs saved, in India.

Go Obama go, don't forget Algore and his cronys, Polosi and the lot.

[Niels Bohr 72]

Hey, since people are adamant about strengthening the military - why not send the unemployed men to work in the military or become members of the armed forces? Instead of worrying about jobs here in the US.

[Craneman 2]

Hey, since people are adamant about strengthening the military - why not send the unemployed men to work in the military or become members of the armed forces? Instead of worrying about jobs here in the US.

What are you smoking?

[Niels Bohr 72]

What are you?

What are you smoking?

[Peikko 1,575]

Surely these men aren't trying hard enough to get a job? I though that was the stock conservative response to unemployed people, no?

[spookyturtle 9,466]

Obviously this is due to Bush's destruction of the economy.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I will say this. If you think the banks were to big to fail, I'd have to say that the 6mil. unemployed are also too big to fail. You take that many people out of the economic loop and it will be, for the economy, like throwing parachutes out of the space shuttle on landing.