Results tagged “unemployment”

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.

Found in the window of Kenneth Wingard at 2319 Market.

While some have declared the recession over, more or less, California's job rate might disagree. In August, we witnessed the jobless figure "climb to 12.2 percent last month, the highest on records dating back to the 1970's,"n according to CBS5/AP. But California wasn't the only state to see crowds converge at unemployment offices. "Forty-two states lost jobs last month, up from 29 in July, with the biggest payroll cuts coming in Texas, Michigan, Georgia and Ohio." Sigh.

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.

In some not-so-cheery Friday news, California's unemployment rate skyrocketed to 11.5 percent in May, making it "the highest in modern record-keeping," according to the U.S. Department of Labor. NBC Bay Area reports that "[a]lthough the federal agency reported that 48 states and the District of Columbia saw their unemployment rates rise in May, California's rate was substantially higher than the national rate of 9.4 percent for the month." Michigan, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.are the only states with higher unemployment rates. (Again, this isn't fun for anyone.)

SFGate's 'Scavenger' came up with the above handy Google map, denoting the 20 northern California cities with the highest unemployment rates. While it's not a joyous thing to behold, it is interesting to see where we're at right now in the state. The top spots went to #5: Madera (18.5% unemployment), #4: Salinas (18.7%), #3: Yuba City (19.2%), #2: Ceres (19.2%), and #1: Watsonville (24%).

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.

Today, the California State Senate "passed legislation that will extend benefits to the unemployed by 20 weeks, sending Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger the first bill involving money from the federal economic stimulus package," according to reports. The bill passed in a 38-0 vote. "The most important thing we can do right now to help our economy and the day-to-day lives of Californians is to make sure those who are unemployed have the cash to pay their bills and feed their families," said Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. This most recent alteration in California unemployment laws comes just as Google plans to cut part of its workforce.

In some more grim news, California's unemployment rate skyrocketed from 7.7 percent in September to 8.2 percent in October. The numbers go like this: the state of California's unemployment numbers are up by 95,000 over the last month (and up by 487,000 compared with October of 2008.) While this is affecting mainly construction and finance jobs, all sectors and any type of employee is taking a hit. A man in line at the Employment Development Department at Franklin and Turk Streets said, "When you're 55 and you're struggling... If I don't make my payments I could lose my house and be out here on the street. I'm one step from that." Sigh. (KCBS)

During his first address to the nation since the election, President-elect Barack Obama, after answering numerous inane questions about getting a dog, called Friday for an extension of unemployment benefits. Awesome. Seeing as how a good chuck of our friends and associates are SOL on the job front, this comes just in the nick of time. In related news, further evidence of recession time came to light today after the government reported that the unemployment rate had skyrocketed from 6.1 percent in September to 6.5 percent in October. Ouch. (Sacto Bee)