How many people have left the workforce?

How many people have left the workforce?

Ed Morrissey
July 10, 2010

As a follow-up to my earlier post on employment and stimulus, here’s a chart of what may be the most significant data on the topic. Barack Obama claims that the unemployment rate dropping from 9.7% to 9.5% shows that we’re moving in the right direction economically — but that data doesn’t include those who have left the workforce out of discouragement. They have no jobs and have given up looking for another due to economic conditions, according to the categorization by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This chart shows the direction in which our economic policies have taken the US:

(numbers in thousands)

These represent the gross numbers of able-bodied workers outside the workforce and no longer looking for jobs. The red star indicated when Barack Obama’s stimulus was passed, and we can see the effects or lack thereof on the workforce afterward. Not only has the unemployment rate gone up and the number of jobs continued to drop since February 2009, Americans are increasingly leaving the workforce instead of joining it.

In what universe does this show “the right direction”?

What proportion of those have stopped looking for work in order to get themselves a better education though? It is all very well and good pointing to an increase in people not working and not trying to look for work, but you have to look at the reasons for that. How many people have taken time out in order to learn new skills? If I had stayed at the job I did before I went to university, I would have been made redundant just before Christmas. I would have used that redundancy pay to go back into education. I wouldn't be unemployed technically.

Matt's got a point. My Community College had the highest enrollment number last semester in their history, and they've been open for 40+ years. But the enrollment for the Fall semester is going to top that by a couple of thousand, which is significant considering that in all the Kentucky Community & Technical College System there are about 10,000 students. And those couple of thousand new enrollments for the upcoming semester are only for the Lexington campuses, which aren't even half of the number of campuses scattered throughout Kentucky.

The_Amber_Spyglass wrote:What proportion of those have stopped looking for work in order to get themselves a better education though? It is all very well and good pointing to an increase in people not working and not trying to look for work, but you have to look at the reasons for that. How many people have taken time out in order to learn new skills? If I had stayed at the job I did before I went to university, I would have been made redundant just before Christmas. I would have used that redundancy pay to go back into education. I wouldn't be unemployed technically.

Probably quite a few. But consider this... if you go to school in a situation like this, you're guaranteed unemployment.

But under these current circumstances, people coming out of college are having a hard time finding work. My cousins boyfriend graduated from Law Enforcement school last year. He still can't find a job as a cop.

Many people are running out of benefits and just quit looking. Jobs are scarce right now here in Minnesota. The news paints it a pretty picture and it's worse than they make it out to be.

It's not a knock to you but you're over there and we're over here. And the economic situation is different from state to state. Texas' economy is humming along far better than many other states, for example (low taxes,btw).

BubbleBliss wrote:
Matt's got a point. My Community College had the highest enrollment number last semester in their history, and they've been open for 40+ years. But the enrollment for the Fall semester is going to top that by a couple of thousand, which is significant considering that in all the Kentucky Community & Technical College System there are about 10,000 students. And those couple of thousand new enrollments for the upcoming semester are only for the Lexington campuses, which aren't even half of the number of campuses scattered throughout Kentucky.

That's a good thing. I just hope the economy is way better by the time these people graduate. Otherwise, they're going to be having a hard time.

It is a good thing, but it;s highly unlikely that all these people will find jobs when they graduate. A lot of them do nursing and dental hygiene programs, which will always be needed, but as for business majors and that kinda stuff, it's already bleak looking.

BubbleBliss wrote:
It is a good thing, but it;s highly unlikely that all these people will find jobs when they graduate. A lot of them do nursing and dental hygiene programs, which will always be needed, but as for business majors and that kinda stuff, it's already bleak looking.

Yeah, that's correct. There's plenty of jobs around here for medical professionals. But what they pay is a different thing. But in this economy, you take what you can get and worry later when things get better.

Nurses are always hired, which is why some nurses are being "imported" from places like the Philippines.