Employment Facts For April 2008

Bureau of Labor statistics

 Friday, May 2, 2008.


  THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION:  APRIL 2008
 Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in

 April (-20,000), following job losses that totaled

 240,000 in the first 3 months of the year, the Bureau of Labor

 Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

  The unem-ployment rate, at 5.0 percent, also was little 

changed in April.  Employment continued to decline in construction,

manufacturing, and retail trade, while jobs were added in health 

care and in professional and technical services.

Total Employment and the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

  Both total employment, at 146.3 million, and the

employment-population ratio, at 62.7 percent, were little

changed in April.  Over the month, the labor force 

participation rate held at 66.0 percent; it was the same 

rate a year earlier. 

  In April, the number of persons working part time for

economic reasons increased by 306,000 to 5.2 million.  

This level was 849,000 higher than in April 2007.  These individuals 

indicated that they were working part time because their hours

 had been cut back or because they were unable to find a
full-time job.

Persons Not in the Labor Force (Household Survey Data)

 About 1.4 million persons (not seasonally adjusted) were marginally attached to the labor force in April.  These 

individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked 

for a job sometime in the prior 12 months.  They were not
counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work

in the 4 weeks pre-ceding the survey.  Among the marginally 

attached, there were 412,000 discouraged workers in April, 

about the same as a year earlier.  Discouraged workers were not
currently looking for work specifically because they believed 

no jobs were available for them. The other 1.0 million persons

classified as marginally attached to the labor force in April

 cited reasons such as school attendance or family 
responsibilities. 

Technorati Tags: employment,economy,jobs,department of Labor

States Offer Cash Help To The Working Poor

  I guess that it is up to the states to help their working poor now, all by themselves, since the federal government does not have the money to help. Kind of hard to do if you are spending most of your money on a war here and there. In all seriousness, the programs are expected to be funded by federal welfare funds.

  The state of Arkansas is giving its working poor cash payments of $204 per month and a few other states are following similar plans. That does not seem like much money, but when you are making minimum wage and you happen to be a single mother, $204 can come in very handy. Male or female, the cash will help somewhat.

   Arkansas provides poor working parents with $204 a month, plus bonuses for staying employed, for up to two years. Oregon offers $150 a month for up to a year. Virginia gives $50 a month for up to a year. And the California Legislature is considering a plan, proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, to provide $40 a month to 41,000 working families that receive food stamps.   NYTimes

  $40 a month cash in California? Are you kidding me? What will that do for the working poor in that state, put a quarter tank of gas in the Toyota?

   Here's an interesting clip for you.

The new strategy reflects, in part, a growing concern about the challenges facing the poor nearly 12 years after Congress overhauled welfare laws. While states have drastically reduced their welfare caseloads, research suggests that they have been far less successful in helping people find and keep jobs that lift families out of poverty.

The trend has also been driven by new federal rules that require states to engage 50 percent of welfare recipients in work-related activities. By offering payments to people already working, states are also trying to ensure that they meet federal mandates and avoid steep fines.

Advocates for low-income families point out, however, that benefits are so low in some states that officials seem to be more focused on meeting federal work requirements than on helping the working poor. Federal officials say the programs may siphon money from the welfare recipients they were intended to serve.

  California would be one of those states doing this just to avoid the federal fines. The NY Times notes that some states are paying out just enough to buy a pack of bologna, for instance.

  Michigan offers $10 a month for 6 months and Massachusetts dishes out a whopping $7 per month to its food stamp enrollees. The state of Utah pays out $474 a month for 2 months and $237 for a third month, if needed. Good for Utah!

  Extra cash always comes in handy, especially in these times, but at least make it enough so that the people getting it can do something with it. Either that, or create better paying jobs for this country

Technorati Tags: welfare,food stamps,employment,working poor