10.5% of Illinoisans were unemployed last month

suntimes.com - 4 weeks ago - 158 views

The lastest unemployment data has come out, and it's not pretty.

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by HydeParkAdmiral 4 weeks 5 days ago

Things might also be worse than the state figures indicate because officials only count people who are actively seeking work and don't include those who have gotten discouraged and stopped looking, said Geoffrey Hemings, director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at the University of Illinois.

When those people are counted, the unemployment rate for August was 12.6 percent, more than 2.5 percent above the state's count for the month, Hemings said.

Who stops looking for work? How discouraged do you have to be to just give up looking for work altogether?

by qstrian 4 weeks 5 days ago

Excellent share, kiyoshimartinez!

The Wall Street Journal reports that entrepreneuers are getting creative to work around a credit shortage & wrestle with escalating health care costs. For example, while health care reform may lift the health care expense burden, as much as $10,000 annually for each employee covered, the pending CIT financial re-organization may hit retailers during the critical holiday season. Essentially, CIT pays vendors promptly & allows retailers to defer repayment until merchants collect from credit card lenders.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125372460362634601.html

While the double digit unemployment rate translates in to foreclosures & marital arguments, one may take some assurance in that the jobless are still looking for work even if thousands of others have relegated themselves to early retirements, disability or a rag tag portfolio of part-time employment.

So, what's the solution?

Chicago community activists have stepped up political pressure for a public-private easing of credit for new business startups so that unemployed & underemployed skilled professionals can earn profits & hire their fellow unemployed Chicagoans. We also need to find an alternative to CIT retail factoring which lubricates consumer spending, fully 70% of the American economy. Finally, we need to extend additional assistance to those who qualify for unemployment compensation & to extend benefits to thousands who fail to qualify.

The change we can all believe in is one the way, but let's work together to get through these challenging times which lie ahead.

by chicagoan 4 weeks 5 days ago

If you count the 7% under-employed, you have 17.5% who are not happy campers.

by BradFlora 4 weeks 5 days ago

And some of those jobs just aren't coming back. When a recession hits, employers suddenly have a chance to get rid of people who aren't pulling their weight without having to admit that's why they were fired. Projects that weren't working out get cancelled to 'cut costs' instead of the real reason 'because it was a stupid project.' When things get moving again, a lot of jobs won't be back.

by kiyoshimartinez 4 weeks 5 days ago

Let's be pessimistic and round that up to 20%, probably within margin of error? So, that means 1/5 people are screwed in Illinois right now.

A few things I wonder about:

1.) Does massive unemployment lead to greater, lesser or the same amount of voter turnout in primary and general elections? (I'm sure there's historical data to back up an answer here.)

2.) How will this affect people's votes for incumbents versus newcomers?

3.) Is this enough to sway Cook County and -- more specifically -- Chicago voters to vote Republican in the general election? (The U.S. Senate race and the Governor's race probably will be the most interesting to watch.)

If the economy really is, in fact, turning around, then I wonder if it'll be noticeable in time for the primaries in early February. A year from now might be a different story for the general, but the primaries might actually be thrilling for once.