You are here: Home / Archives for Unemployment

High Unemployment and Dangerous Cities

September 2, 2012 by

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that the cities with the highest unemployment, highest poverty rates, and lowest medium income are also at the top of the list as having the highest crime rates. Two at the top are Flint and Detroit, Michigan that are both having serious budget issues and are losing tax revenue.

Detroit has the 2nd highest violent crime rate in the country. It also has a 32.3% poverty rate and over 20% unemployment.

Stockton, CA also has a 20% unemployment rate and a crime rate that is among the worst in the country for a large city.

When the employment rate improves in the inner city it has been shown that the crime rate start to drop.

According to the Centre for Economic Policy Research, there are also other factors that play into a rise or drop in violent crime. But when money is tight, crimes such as robbery or theft are weighed against the consequences.



Filed Under: Unemployment Tagged With: , , ,

Getting a Job with a Criminal Record

May 2, 2012 by

It’s hard enough these days to find a job, but for those with a criminal record it can be even worse. An estimated 65 million Americans face that problem when they are looking for a job. New laws prevent blanket discrimination against this, but if you’re dealing with that problem there are some things you can do to help prepare yourself as much as possible.

While serving your time you will have nothing but time on your hands. This is a perfect opportunity to further your education any way you can. If you didn’t get your high school degree, now is the time to start working to get your GED.

It is also possible to get a college degree while in prison. There are also plenty of opportunities provided by non-profits for training while serving time. Read everything you can get your hands on that will help you in the real job world. Learn new skills that will help you in a trade. These days a plumber may be just as employable as a marketing executive in the current job market.

There are also programs to help you once you get out as far as training and job skills. Take advantage of these. Get help in putting your resume together and practicing for a job interview. If you have a parole officer that will help you, reach out and get that help. In fact, seek out help from anyone you can. Find a non-profit that fits your needs and get in touch with them. Let them know you are willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to become employed.

You will more than likely have to start at the bottom and work your way back into the system, especially if you are looking for a job that has a lot of responsibility. But these days even people that don’t have a criminal record are having to do that. Just concentrate on getting your foot in the door and proving to your employer and yourself that you can, not only do the job required, but you can go above and beyond what’s needed to get ahead.

If you find that you are going nowhere in a job search, you might want to consider creating your own job. It worked for Alfred Lomas. He was a member of one of the largest and most notorious gangs in L.A. He decided to radically change his life and became a Christian.

He started as a director of a food program that delivers food to warring gang neighborhoods. He now risks his life to bring peace to the same neighborhood by negotiating with rival gangs to stop the violence. He also started L.A. Gang Tours, which is a successful tour through those same neighborhoods and brings jobs to the area.

The main thing is to stay focused on keeping your attitude positive and keeping your skills sharp. It’s hard enough for those that have a college degree and no record right now, so you will have to be patient and just keep looking ahead.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Half of Recent College Graduates Un or Underemployed

April 24, 2012 by

You’ve paid your dues in college for the past four years. Maybe you have been working a part-time job to pay off student loans, while you pull all-nighters studying for finals. You expect all of the hard work to pay off with a good job in your chosen field.

But reality these days is much harsher. New data shows that half of all recent college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed, working as waiters, cashiers, retail clerks and bartenders, most barely making over minimum wage and many still living at home with their parents. This is the highest unemployment rate for college graduates in over 40 years.

College graduates are now just as vulnerable to unemployment as a high school dropout. 35% of those with advanced degrees have been unemployed for over a year.

Many of the future job prospects tend to be in industries like the home healthcare market which relies on an actual human instead of automation. The jobs that can’t be outsourced like dentist or doctor will be more in demand in the future.

Job prospects for college graduates with a bachelors degree fell to their lowest levels in more than a decade. Over 53% of those college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed. And that number doesn’t seem to be changing. The higher end and lower end jobs are doing better than the ones in the middle, which have been hurt the worst.

The college students with degrees in teaching, accounting, and nursing were more likely to find jobs than their counterparts who graduated with philosophy or art history degrees.

The Helrich Center at Rutgers University did a study recently. They asked college graduates if their first job was a career. If they graduated before 2008 30% of them said yes. If they graduated after 2008, the number dropped to 22%.

So, what is the solution? As someone that didn’t go to college at all and has never gotten a job with a resume, my solution has always been that you have to create your own opportunities. I’ve always started at the bottom and looked at every job as a learning experience. Even the worst jobs will teach you something. And believe me, I’ve done some pretty horrible jobs, like picking out burnt potato chips on an assembly line or working in the field picking tobacco.

Life will always throw you curveballs no matter what kind of degree you have, no matter what your circumstances are at the moment. The average person changes jobs and even careers many times throughout their lives and with the new job market, changing jobs and careers will become the new normal.

 

 

 



Filed Under: Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

European Job Loss

February 14, 2012 by

Global companies are bracing for a European recession and a slowdown in China. This means companies will be cutting jobs three times faster than they were last year. This means the unemployment rate there, which is already at a 13 year high, could get worse.

Uncertainty over Greece’s debt crisis has the Euro zone on edge. They are worried that Greece could default on their debt and pull out of the euro pact. Portugal, Ireland, and Greece all received bailouts. This means that companies are now being very cautious.

One thing that can be agreed on is that any recovery right now will be slow and unemployment will remain high.



Filed Under: Unemployment Tagged With: , , ,

Need a Job? Move to North Dakota!

February 11, 2012 by

My memories of driving through the Dakotas as a child were of driving on the moon. I remember miles and miles of empty open space. The temperature in the winter can dip below negative 60 degrees. And summers can be hot and humid. But if you’re looking for a job you are sure to find one in North Dakota, where the unemployment rate is as low as 1.5% in some towns. In fact, it hasn’t gone below 5% since 1987.

Many of the jobs are in the booming oil industry, but with the influx of people moving there, jobs like teaching, retail, and food service. In fact, local fast food restaurants are now paying workers $15-17 an hour and giving bonuses to anyone that can help them fill their jobs. Servers in restaurants make around $25 an hour and truck drivers make between $70-80,000 a year.

Most of the state is rural, and the agricultural industry is productive and profitable. It’s the only state that has added manufacturing jobs over the last decade.

This oil boom is expected to continue for years to come, and the national unemployment rate is too. So, if you can handle long, hard hours and brutal winters, and you want to double your income or find a good, high paying job, go north young man! To North Dakota.



Filed Under: Job Search, Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Dropping out of the Job Market

January 25, 2012 by

The unemployment rate dropped slightly last month for one major reason… many people have simply given up looking for a job. The number of workers that are actively looking for a full-time job and can’t find one is over 6 million people.

As someone that doesn’t have the luxury of not working, I was wondering exactly what those people that have dropped out are doing. Turns out the younger ones are choosing to live at home with their parents for much longer and staying in school much longer. A lot of those students aren’t working a job while they are in school, which means their student loans are going to be hell to pay off once they do get out. And that’s assuming they can even find a job once they’re out. Yes, getting a good education will look nice on their resume, and their job experience will grow as they get out into the workforce, but student loans are forever.

The number of women that are choosing to work has dropped to the lowest level in 20 years. More women are choosing to stay home and take care of the kids.

Once those discouraged workers go back to looking for work again the unemployment number will rise.



Filed Under: Job Search, Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Unemployment Numbers

January 7, 2012 by

The White House today is celebrating the unemployment number going down slightly to 8.5% because of 200,000 jobs being added this month. But not so fast. Numbers can be deceiving.

5% used to be the number that signaled that anyone who wanted a job could find a job. It will never go down to zero because too many other factors are at play. People come in and out of the job market and it constantly fluctuates.

Most important is that fact that the 8.5% unemployment number doesn’t include the underemployed and those that have simply given up looking for a job. Then the number doubles.

According to the Congressional Budget Office, if we added 200,000 new jobs every single month until Oct, 2015 we would only get the unemployment rate down to 7%.

Yes, we may possibly be looking at a new normal as far as the unemployment rate goes. Grim numbers for the future, but it also may be time to change the way you look at the job market and consider all options, like creating your own job. Or piecing together two part-time jobs.



Filed Under: Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Age Discrimination in the Job Market

December 24, 2011 by

I recently participated in a Linked In poll on discrimination in the job market. The question was “What type of discrimination, if any, is prevalent in today’s job market?” The answers were “younger, older, women, race/ethnicity, and unemployed”. The final answer from an overwhelming number of participants was “older”, with “unemployed” coming in second. It broke down into 50% for older, 26% for long term unemployed, 12% for race/ethnicity, 7% for women, and 5% for younger job seekers. This shows that the older and longer term unemployed are finding this current job market especially brutal and unforgiving.

In 1967 the Age Discrimination in Employment Act was signed which protects people 40 years or older from age discrimination in the workplace. It applies to companies that have 20 or more employees, including government employees. The protections include apprenticeship programs, job notices and advertisements, pre-employment inquires, and benefits.

But even with these laws in place, it still doesn’t stop the rampant ageism that continues every day. Stereotypes are deeply engrained. Older workers are seen as being slower to change, even though many older workers are actually very open to change and are quite tech savvy. Employers think they’ll be hired for only a short time and after they’ve gone through training will leave the company to retire, even though people are postponing retirement for many reasons.

Demand for higher wages is another misconception. Older job seekers will work for less money, especially in a tough recession. Health issues weigh heavily on the minds of employers, who may feel older workers will take more sick days and not be able to do their job. As with anything, there may be a grain of truth to that, but the fact is that people are living longer and older workers have much to contribute, such as years of knowledge and experience younger workers don’t have yet.

And just as older workers could be stuck in their ways, so can younger workers. Disease and accidents affect everyone and can happen to younger workers as well. Also, younger workers may be even less likely to stay with the company and more likely to demand higher wages.

Older workers are disproportionately encouraged to take early retirement and are more likely to be affected than younger workers.

Even though older workers have much to contribute to the workplace, ageism is likely to go on in the job market. If you are one of those that is over 40 and out there looking for a job, don’t be discouraged. There is a company out there that will value you and will be better off for taking that chance on you.

 



Filed Under: Job Seekers, Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Unemployed and Savings

September 16, 2011 by

You’ve done everything right. You had a good job and you saved for a rainy day. Then you lost the good job and now it’s raining. With the high cost of living, unemployment checks really don’t go very far, especially in the big city. So now you’ve started dipping into your savings and you’re starting to freak out a little. What’s a responsible person to do?

First of all, you want to tackle the problems before they get too desperate to handle. Focus in like a laser beam on everything you need to do to get work. Take temp work if you have to. Take work you feel is beneath you if you have to. Work for less if you have to. Because if you dip into savings too much you’ll end up with no job AND no savings. And that’s when things will spiral out of control.

Always make sure you have health care coverage. The minute you let it slip is the very minute you may wind up in the emergency room. I know this from personal experience. Don’t let it happen to you!

Even if you do have to dip into savings, make sure you keep your credit score up. Contrary to what some people believe, applying for unemployment benefits doesn’t affect your credit score. These days employers will look at that and also your long term unemployment and neither one of them looks good on paper. So pay your bills on time and pay them in full. Late fees really add up. Make sure you don’t have any. This is what I would call stupid tax.

The only way to stay afloat and get ahead is to either make more or save more or both. Saving more means cutting expenses to the bone. That should go beyond cutting out your daily latte at the local coffee establishment on the corner and wearing the same clothes you’ve had since the 90′s. Pare it down to the absolute basics. Nothing more. From now on you’ll have to keep track of every penny you spend. Carry around a notebook and make sure you document everything. Then get an online system like Quicken to put it in. You’ll probably be surprised how the little things add up. Even things like parking meters where you put in change will add up at the end of the month. Make sure it’s all down in your notebook.

If you have to, think of all of this as a temporary situation. It’ll make it easier to deal with. Keep your eye on the future and make sure you will still have one.



Filed Under: Unemployment Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Handling Unemployment Stress

August 12, 2011 by

No doubt about it, unemployment is a very stressful time. Laid off employees will go through a series of emotions, from denial to anger to sadness. But taking it out on others won’t help your cause. It might be tempting to yell at your boss or other employees, but you will probably need a referral from them, so best to put that anger somewhere else.

The same goes for your family. They will probably be the first to hear your rant, but it’s not their fault either.

Now is a good time to cool off and regroup. Give yourself some time before jumping back into the job search. Take a short vacation if you want, but make it brief. Too much time off can take the urgency out of looking for a job.

One way to ease the stress is to put yourself on a strict budget. Get your expenses down as much as possible.

Another way is to keep in touch with friends. These days a job search will most likely be long and frustrating. They can help you take your mind off of the stress. Make sure you do something fun from time to time to distract yourself.

And lastly, join a group. This could be others who are experiencing the same things you are going through. Share tips that work and encourage others. It will help lift you up too.



Filed Under: Job Search, Unemployment Tagged With: , , , ,
«Older Posts