Unemployment galluping down
 

The most recent studies by the Gallup polling organization have shown a steady trend in reduced unemployment (= Increased employment?). Room for hope?

Regards,

D-Ray

Well it sure should jerk a knot in Ryan's tail. He was before the Heritage Foundation whining about Obama not working with the GOP. Hello, is this not the 'my way or the highway group' suggesting they work with anyone? Anyone other than the Koch brothers or that anarchist Super Grover

Even if true, this would just draw those who have given up looking for a job back into the job market, causing unemployment to rise.

Atta way to look for more crap instead of trying to find the pony.

Regards,

D-Ray

Now that's a nice turn of a phrase. :D

I'm stealing it...

It won't matter if unemployment is 1% come election time, it'll still be all Obamas fault that three million Americans are STILL unemployed.........................

Dave

Spoken like a true Republican... :)

So, is this slightly good news, if it holds, going to be the Keystone of Obama's reelection bid?

Just Imagine how much better things could be if he were to get out of the way.

Chas

Always looking for the black lining in evey silver cloud..............

Where would we be without their negativity and "can't do" attitudes?

Dave

Yes We Can!

Blecch. ;)

In the back of the business section I've seen hints of recovery for a while now, references to 'increased demand' and improving productivity' generally in industry specific articles.

But the possible disaster in Europe (unlikely IMO, but severely unsettling, and an almost certain reccession there) and the rumored reccession in China, coupled with the uncertainty generated by a hope and change, um, occassional wannabe class warrior in Washington, is going to make it hard to get moving.

The backlog of foreclosures ain't helping either. And our looming debt crisis a'la Europe.

But it won't stay like this forever.

Pete

Wet blanket.

Ever wonder if the constant doomsaying of your side has anything to do with "uncertainty"?

Dave

You know, he wanted this job! It's just a bad time. But that makes an oppretunity for a historic Presidency.

Pete

Lets see how it looks after 01/02/12.

I'm not sure how unemployment is for real but I do know that when they are bringing people in to my place of employment for the most part they are temps. We have some temps that have been there well over a year. Do temp workers count as "employed" in these polls?

On a side note it scares the hell out of me when I see em bringing in another round of 15 temps. Giving them more and better training than I received when I was hired. Sure has that feeling of an 1800's sewing shop with folks lined up along the wall waiting for your job if you make a mistake.

Excellent question. I don't know the answer, but it would be interesting to know.

Same here. It dawned on me a while back, that I don't personally know ANYONE, not even among my Ohio relatives, who is unemployed, but I know tons of people who are underemployed. Low wages, reduced hours, no benefits.......I know lots of those.

Is this just a sign of the "recession"? Maybe so. What do you think?

(I've watched the use of temp services grow and grow over the years, along with the reluctance to hire folks on "permanent". Where I work, this now includes skilled/technical staff. Not just the laborers.)

Dave

I don't mean to be a wet blanket Dave, it's just really tough out there.

Some good news - the US is still the biggest economy and can create it's own growth. We've outpaced Europe over the years sometimes by a real lot.

And manufacturing has been up for 26 consecutive months.

I think the real harbringer of good times a'coming would be RE values starting to creep up.

Pete

OMG! Positivity? :eek: Are you sure that manufacturing being up isn't really some sign that the end of times is nigh, unless we hurry up and elect some rightwing windbag to strap on his/her cape and save us from the clutches of a permanent state of decline and disaster?

Dave

Whoa.

:) It really didn't have anywhere else to go!

Sad thing is, they're having trouble filling positions at least here in Ohio. Go through 5 -10 slack jawed drooling temps before you find one willing to actually show up daily and work while being able to count.

Pete

Not going to happen for a while yet. The friggin' things are still grossly overpriced. Even when unemployment drops....Who can afford them? Can't make a $1,500 mortgage payment on $10/hour.

BTW. Through it all, I have always believed, and always will, that Americas best days lie yet ahead. We just have to accomplish three things, IMHO.

1). Get our politicians to stop trying to destroy each other. Of all things, I fear single party rule the most. If it hasn't become obvious to anyone that that's what all too many of them are up to.........That person is dumb, deaf and blind.

2). Get Americans to start caring about each other again. This constant effort to drag each other down and strip each other of the things we all work for cannot lead to anything good. Not for the average American, anyhow.

3) Stinginess and unbridled greed have got to go. There is a difference between healthy incentivised ambition, and this obscene "Gordon Gekko" style of avaricious pillaging. The first builds. The second only destroys.
Our country was a far better place when we lauded generosity, and hissed at the self-centered and insatiable.

Dave

That's everywhere, Pete.

Just over the weekend we fired one for "texting" on the production floor, two for being drunk on the job, and one for doing serious damage to a vital piece of equipment with his forklift, just being a jackass.

Dave

Well I have news for y'all, Monday and Tuesday were errand days, bank, grocery store, opthalmologist, so with the latter the designated driver is the one not having the eye exam. They are building McMansions left, right and center. We saw two new sites starting the bulldozing and road making process. One site that started a year and a half back has a sign saying it was already 50% sold. Somebody is buying these McMansions. I really like to see it because the new process is to provide common septic and drainfield so they put the houses on one acre lots. This simply drives up the price of our 4-1/2 acres. After all there is really no value in having a 6000 sq ft house cheek by jowl with its neighbour. The county currently has us at $653,900 and when the 475 sq ft playroom is finished that will go over $700,000

Nice Rob!

There's a new development behind me with McMansions. Right before the crash they put in the last road, it's been empty. I figure that when they start building on it we've seen the worst of it here.

I agree, why would someone build a beautiful house on a tiny lot. I'd rather have a smaller house on a larger lot. Maybe a nice barn. Neighbors, I hate them :D

Blue, how do you legislate those things?

Pete

Another piece of encouraging news, I can't find the article online but the big railroads are booming. Hiring even.

Pete

The other aspect of this communal septic tank.drainfield and one acre lots is care. The city folk buying these McMansions don't know from septic and dump every thing in them. The group up the road had the system back up - phew. One of the locals hit a skunk last night - right across the road from the end of our driveway - phew indeed.

Whereupon the terminated employees immediately left the building, went home, called in their unemployment claims (which they will likely receive), donned their protest gear (consisting of week old underwear, dirty shirt and jeans, and yesterday's socks) and went to join their brethren at the local Occupy rally. ;)

Under most state laws, none of the mentioned employees would likely qualify for unemployment, as drunkenness and horseplay would likely be considered "serious misconduct." If there was a rule against use of personal telephones on the floor, I would expect that the one fired for texting would also be denied benefits.

I expect that most of the folks involved in the OWS movement have more serious concerns and are likely more responsible than someone who gets fired for showing up to work drunk. In fact, the statistics showed that the vast majority of the protesters were employed. They are just sick and tired of seeing the work they do devalued while the parasites on wall street get richer.

Regards,

D-Ray

I suspect that they would receive unemployment.

The definition of serious misconduct varies from state to state, but is generally defined as conduct that is "harmful to the interests of the employer, and must be done intentionally or in disregard of the employer's interests." At various levels of the claims and appeal process, the benefits could be denied. However, if the claim gets to an ALJ, all bets are off. I'd suspect that most of the ALJ's that I've seen would not deem texting as misconduct, particularly if there were no prior warnings that such behavior could result in discharge. If there were no warning, and company policy specifically stated that an employee could be terminated for texting, an ALJ might decide that the employer might term an employee for violation of policy, but the violation of policy was not misconduct as defined by the state.

The individual doing damage to equipment would likely be eligible for unemployment, unless the employer could prove that the employee deliberately damaged the equipment. As you're likely aware, in unemployment hearings the employer has the burden of proof to demonstrate why a claim should be denied. The employer would have to have significant proof that the employee's actions were intentional. Not an easy thing to do. So, I strongly believe the claim would be allowed.

Drunkenness? 50/50. Did the employer actually see the employees drinking? Did the employer send the employees for a reasonable - suspicion breathalyzer or blood test? If there isn't proof that the employees were intoxicated, then it comes down to whether their horseplay met the definition of misconduct. Without more facts, and assuming that this employer is like many who terminate but fail to adequately document, the employees have a pretty good chance at a hearing.

Serious concerns like getting laid by their fellow protestors, blocking traffic, or trashing police cars?

The OWS folks really frighten you, don't they.

Regards,

D-Ray

Eeek!

Pete

Not at all. They're great fun. They serve as great examples of why liberal policies don't work, and they're great poster children for Obama's re-election campaign. I hope they stay around for a very long time. :p

Huh? So, I suppose that the Tea Party is a poster child for the failure of conservative policies.:confused:

Good job you weren't around to tell the founding fathers that.

As Reagan once said, "There you go again." I think enough evidence has accumulated by now to demonstrate that there is no, zip, zero, nada comparison between the Occupy folks and the Tea Party crowd.

Are you attempting to make some comparison between liberalism 240 years ago, and liberalism today? Good luck with that. :rolleyes:

Are you suggesting that there is no correlation between going to war with the British Empire and blocking traffic so that people can't get to work?

Chas

Your assertion was that the existence of the OWS crowd was proof that liberal policies don't work. I'm not arguing that liberal (or conservative) policies work, just that the existence of OWS doesn't, in and of itself, prove anything.

FWIW, I thought that it was pretty obvious what you meant.

Regards,

D-Ray

You're right. My bad. ;)

Sue it does. The existence of the OWS proves quite a bit, actually.

It proves that the constant drum-beat of class warfare from the left resonates with a certain portion - albeit a pretty unsavory portion - of the body politic.

It proves, after a century of evidence to the contrary, that some folks still think socialism is the answer.

It proves that hate can be a powerful motivating force.

It proves that folks some folks would rather be taken care of than take care of themselves.

It proves that some folks are dumb enough to think that the government can fix economic injustice, while centuries of evidence demonstrate that more often than not governments are the cause of economic injustice.

There's plenty more, but the server may lack the capacity.

It also may prove that some people have tunnel vision, or as we used to say in La Belle Province - Tete de Pioche.