Long seen by economists as a truer marker than the traditional unemployment rate, CA's underemployment rate hit a shocking 22% in September. Per the Chron: "That figure includes 1.9 million jobless Californians, 1.4 million people who had to work part time, and 865,000 adults loosely described as discouraged." (Full chart after the jump.) Many of those working part time are people who were furloughed or otherwise given fewer work hours rather than being laid off. And those "discouraged" folks are the ones who no longer qualify for unemployment and who have basically given up on looking for work.

Both of our previous recent recessions have been followed by relatively shitty employment recoveries, and this one looks to be the worst jobless recovery yet. So, uh, if you're still funemployed out there we hope you're still enjoying it! And the Chron suggests maybe finding a new skill, like web design. Heh.

Found in the window of Kenneth Wingard at 2319 Market.

Not unlike speed-dating events where desperation and forced smiles hang thick in the air, so-called 'pink-slip' parties are allegedly making a comeback. These were popular during the dot-com bust eight years ago where the "funemployed" gathered to "network" and coach each other toward better job prospects. We think there used to be booze involved, but anyway ABC News brings us this story about one such party over Labor Day weekend in San Jose, hosted by these people, where folks gathered to learn about things like Facebook, and to be told that they might need to find a new field.

Whether you're an optimist or a pessimist, getting laid off from your job in the shittiest economy in decades isn't exactly swell news, but certainly we live in one of the best cities anywhere to be jobless and broke. In addition to a multitude of cheap food options and pretty parks to sit in and drink beer, there are free outdoor movies and wine country right up the road where some wineries still don't charge for tasting. And there's also the laid back, relaxation-before-ambition ethos that's endemic here and that we all know and love.

This week's piece by Peter Jamison on so-called "Funemployment" in the Weekly trots around some fuzzy ideas about overachieving Millennials being influenced by Gen Xers' slackerdom and coming around to the idea that they should just enjoy themselves while collecting government checks. There's nothing too groundbreaking being said here, but this one hateful pullquote did stand out to us, from a certain well-to-do techie named Grace who writes an overly precious blog called Stuff Unemployed People Like:

"The people I know, nobody's strapped for cash," says Grace, a laid-off tech company worker who splits her time between San Francisco and Sunnyvale... (Among the entries: "Buying Game Consoles with Unemployment Checks," "Buying Perrier with Food Stamps," and "Shunning Public Transportation Because 'It's for Poor People.'"...) "We didn't live above our means. We didn't get involved in the real-estate market. For me, it sucks not to have income, but I'm definitely laid-back enough about it that I can make unemployment work."

You know what, Grace? We think we speak for all the unemployed people who are getting by okay, going to Dolores Park (by bus), catching up on their Netflix but still feeling fairly anxious and screwed by their current predicament when we say, Go fuck yourself.