6 Charts That Suggest The Unemployment Crisis Is WORSE Than It Looks

If today's uninspiring data on the mounting jobs crisis isn't enough to convince you of how difficult it will be to turn employment situation around, we've gathered some graphical evidence of just how bad it is out there.

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that the U.S. economy shed 131,000 jobs in July. Private employers added 71,000 jobs, while the Census eliminated some 143,000 temporary positions. In sum, the report was widely seen to be weak and, as Calculated Risk noted, was actually weaker than many of the headlines suggested. Accounting for the Census hires, the economy added just 12,000 jobs last month, far below the 200,000 new jobs required each month to drive the unemployment rate down.

Below, we've complied a handful of charts that take a deeper dive into the numbers. A few things standout. First, this recovery has been significantly flatter than previous economic rebounds. And, perhaps more disturbing, this unemployment crisis has been defined by historic rates of long-term unemployment and decreased economic output.

Check out the most disturbing charts from the latest jobs data:

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Percent Of Job Losses In Postwar Recessions

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This graph shows the rate of job losses since the start of a recession, in percentage terms (h/t Calculated Risk). RED marks the current recession. Note the dotted line which accounts for ex-census hires. Source: Calculated Risk

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This graph shows the rate of job losses since the start of a recession, in percentage terms (h/t Calculated Risk). RED marks the current recession. Note the dotted line which accounts for ex-census hires.

Source: Calculated Risk

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Peb said on 8 Sunday 2010 pm31 6:17 pm: Republicans created zero net new private sector jobs. ALL the jobs created during the Bush administration were public sector (soldiers etc.). Republican economics just don't work anymore. Putting these guys back in charge will mean more of the same - - - ie. no new jobs! http://2010.newsweek.com/essay/party-like-its-1999.html

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Scariest Charts From The Job Crisis

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Scariest Charts From The Job Crisis

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Comments

[Carol Thacker Pullen]

03:37 PM on 08/17/2010

I am only one person but I cannot count the number of businesses that I know that have shipped jobs over seas. Multiply that thousands of times and it is no wonder there are so few jobs here in the U.S.A. Somehow we have got to get companies to value the state of this country more then their pocket book. It is called being patriotic.

[DFC1]

02:12 PM on 08/14/2010

Here are some data from the Washington post about the lost of manufacturing jobs in USA:

"Since the Great Recession began in December 2007, America has lost 16 percent of its manufacturing payroll jobs. While there has been a slight uptick in manufacturing jobs in the last seven months, only 11.7 million Americans work in this sector, down from 17.3 million 10 years ago"

And it is false it is due to the increase in productivity, at the same time China has created tens of millions of jobs

That means almost HALF of the jobs in the manufacturing sector have been lost in ONLY 10 years, the process start to accelerate more and more when our dear Mr. Bush brings China to the WTO in 2001 and remove all the tariffs to their products, good job George!, the richests love you!

[ajax cleanser]

03:42 PM on 08/24/2010

The conversion of this economy from manufacturing centric to service centric is not in and of itself a bad thing. The associated dislocation can be painful but capital pursues the lowest cost, period. This fact has raised the world's standards of living more than any other model in history.

The important policy to pursue is to allow capital to work here still, to grow the service economy. Unfortunately policy makers do not agree, which is why unemployment is going from painful to permanent. It is not a direct result of the transfer of manufacturing jobs, it is a direct result of the Keynesian philosophy being employed here.

[DFC1]

02:10 PM on 08/14/2010

The profits of the companies are sky-rocketing right now as the trade deficit is also, they are correlated, the outsourcing policy of the companies are destroyed the job and soar the profits, because is absolutelly false that the prices of the outsourced product follow the decrease in costs

There have been an stratospheric transfer of techonology, R+D, investment, trainning of engineers and skilled workers, know-how, etc... mainly to China and will means the biggest transfer of wealth in the human history

What we are going to see soon is a dramatic change in the economic power balance between China and US, in favour of China, and the destruction of the america´s middle class (the first as consequence of the second)

In the next future we will see the american people compete in wages and labour condictions with the chinese people, but not in the range of the "normal" (former) american standard, but in the range of existing chinese standard, is the absolute triumph of the richest

[jimpager]

03:43 AM on 08/14/2010

The Obamakins talk about a trillion dollar hole in spending and add a trillion to the deficit (1.3 trillion if I remember right). One would think that would be inflationary and the dollar would crash...Yet the dollar and inflation are stable but oops...unemployment went to 20% (closer to the real number). Is not unemployment being used to sop up inflation? And the value of the dollar being propped up with more blood from the middle class?

Yet another "change we can believe in" ???

[Robert Ganshorn]

04:45 AM on 08/13/2010

I am late to this I know, but I have to ask the obvious question. Where are our standards? Seven of ten engineers are now graduating outside of the United States. We are giving away our educational advantages while we spend money on military missions based upon 65 year old treaties. Get us out of the world police business and into manufacturing again.

Corporations are waiting for a tax program before they will invest. Congress is waiting for an election and is the exemplar of fearful "do nothings." This did not just happen yesterday, but has been the accumulation of bad policy, each one of which has a lobbyist in Washington protecting it. Now, we have identified some problems. The best "back to work" program is zero federal taxation on all corporations and incorporated small businesses and a national value added tax. Individuals would still pay their federal income tax. Presently half of the population pays no federal tax anyway. We make it so hard to be a small business, but, two of three Americans work for small business. Let's make it simple to employ people.

[Clem2]

10:10 AM on 08/13/2010

Actually, the problem is the businesses are multinational and don't care about this country. Offshore accounts should be made illegal. If you're going to do business here, you pay taxes here. BTW, I know under bush, Avis Rent a Car was considered a "small business."

NAFTA was a huge mistake.

and we are going the way of Rome..... unending wars that deplete us.

[Robert Ganshorn]

04:48 AM on 08/14/2010

Did I not say small businesses employ two thirds of Americans? Please cite a source for your Avis assertion.

[doubtingdavid]

02:25 PM on 08/10/2010

But, but, but Uncle Joe told us this was the summer of recovery!!!! LMAO!!!!! Thanks Joe for reminding me to never, ever vote, for a demcrat again.

[Scent]

04:35 PM on 08/10/2010

Right. YOU rather vote for the ones responsible for the decline than the ones not being able to clean up the mess the republicans left. - Brilliant. - And long term it will make everything well again.
.

Through a revolution.

[ajax cleanser]

03:29 PM on 08/24/2010

First 6 years of Bush, great economic performance.
What happened? Reid and Pelosi took over Congress.
What has happened since???

[Yikes11]

07:51 PM on 08/09/2010

Get rid of the flexians, Rubin, Summers, Geitner. They are a danger to america as we know it. As a matter of fact, get rid of most of your so-called economic advisors. THey don't work for the people, they work for themselves to maintain their status quo.

[rp2009]

07:16 PM on 08/09/2010

What I find amazing about this current "economic crisis" is that corporations are hoarding records amounts of cash, the banks and Wall St. are doing well some earning record profits after the bailout. Washington moved heavens and earth so as Wall St. wouldn't have to sleep with a pea under their matters, but balked at extending unemployment benefits.
Now the talk is of the ultimate importance to save the Bush Tax cuts lest not we forget about the possibility of a pea under their down mattress, and instead Washington and Wall St. find it more appropriate cutting social security and Medicare.

[Clem2]

10:11 AM on 08/13/2010

TOO TRUE!

[ajax cleanser]

03:35 PM on 08/24/2010

Is it painful being clueless?
Corporations do not hire to meet a social agenda. They hire as needed to meet demand. Further, corporations do not pay more than they need to for anything, labor included. If they did, they would be out of business.
As far as the Bush tax cuts, allowing them to lapse, and the other anti-business legislation hoisted upon this economy by the Obama/Reid/Pelosi thugocracy is the primary reason unemployment is going from painful to structural. And they know it, but they believe it is an acceptable price to pay for the establishment of the re-distribution policies they believe are equitable. They count on the economy to eventually be able to absorb the additional weight. In the meantime they can count on the clueless to blame others.

[StopMakingSense2]

04:49 PM on 08/09/2010

Maybe another round of trickle down economics is what we need? It's worked great so far! Not!!
More like gush up economics. Trickle down is so much easier to sell to the rubes.

Bush senior was right on when he called it voodoo economics. Se republicans don't have to always be wrong.

Is it morning in America now ronnie?

[ajax cleanser]

03:28 PM on 08/24/2010

Do your research, supply side tax cuts created close to 30,000,000 jobs over the 20 year span of '82-'02.
To every businessman I know it is instinctive, let us keep a fair share of our profits and we will continue to risk, reinvest, grow and employ. Take too much and the risk is not worth it.
To every "victim" I know, its also instinctive, though the opposite. Provide for me, do not make me accountable, take from someone else if you need to, and if someone else is doing well they are obviously cheating.

[Larry Motuz]

04:08 PM on 08/09/2010

A site for even better information: http://www.scribd.com/doc/13970982/Richard-Koo-Presentation

[pjwrites]

09:29 AM on 08/09/2010

Mere scare tactics. Oooh, this is so, so, so bad! Isn't every "recession", "depression", or whatever our government officials and big business players want to call their current thievery? This isn't "the market", my friends. This is people in high places playing games with the working man.

I guess what this means is that you should be happy just to have a job, right, any old job? And you should be happy to be getting any amount of money for doing that job, right? Even if it means you will have to learn to subsist, kind of like our caveman predecessors - all because you're a worker and not an owner.

Learn to live with it. Those using and abusing you and stealing your nation's resources will remind you every 7 - 10 years with another "bust".

[kinogod]

09:04 PM on 08/08/2010

This is the flow chart the dems should use to remind american voters of the consequences of 8 years of republicanism. Frak bush, he was the dandy, the puppet for a movement and belief system and party that is bankrupt of ideas that work for the america we say we want. These flow charts as political reminders would be funny if the consequences weren't so tragic for so many Americans affected by the Bush recession.

[notillegal2]

04:24 PM on 08/09/2010

Blame Bush Blame Bush
There must be some type of record keeping of how many times we've had blame Bush referneces under the Obama reign vs blame Clinton'sreferences under Bush's rein during the first two years of each administration.

[doubtingdavid]

02:28 PM on 08/10/2010

They will be blaming Bush for everything bad that ever has, may or will happen to this country for the next 50 years, up to and including the death of this country. Which is happening right before our eyes.

[themodernleader]

09:00 PM on 08/08/2010

The Great Depression was not known as such until far into the disaster. This great depression II is called a recession. Farther into the future it will be known as an unmitigated disaster of timid, ignominious response. It may be called "The Great Collapse" or something worse that will be defined by the quality of leadership. We are paying and will pay more dearly for such present incompetent administration.

[TParrish]

07:34 AM on 08/09/2010

We were put into this recession by an incompetent, dishonest administration. It is being prolonged by abuse of the filibuster.

[Raymond Roberts]

01:41 PM on 08/09/2010

Absolutely correct

[Pamela Grundy]

07:44 AM on 08/10/2010

Amen. Minimizing what's happening to Americans may work well as spin (I think it actually doesn't) but we can still see what's in front of our noses no matter what the press says. The collapse of 2008 feels like the beginning of this, not the end. Here in MI, they are closing libraries, letting teachers go, and unpaving roads. It's like the country is disintegrating before our eyes while Washington engages in dysfunctional theater.

[graffitijoe]

08:40 PM on 08/08/2010

So how's that "Summer of Recovery" workin' out for ya?

[notillegal2]

04:25 PM on 08/09/2010

Lost hope and no change.

[Peb]

06:17 PM on 08/08/2010

Republicans created zero net new private sector jobs. ALL the jobs created during the Bush administration were public sector (soldiers etc.).

Republican economics just don't work anymore. Putting these guys back in charge will mean more of the same - - - ie. no new jobs!

http://2010.newsweek.com/essay/party-like-its-1999.html

[Dawg100]

07:51 PM on 08/08/2010

Tell me how Democratic Obama's plan to train 3000 off-shore IT workers at a cost of $22 million helps America

http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/integration/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=226500202