Since 2009, Unemployed More Likely To Drop Out Of Labor Force Than Get Jobs

Since 2009, a layoff victim has been more likely to give up looking for work and drop out of the labor force than to find a job, according to a new report from the Roosevelt Institute, meaning employment prospects for the jobless are the worst they have been since the government started keeping track of them.

From data going back to 1967, "We can see that it has never been more likely than it is now for the unemployed to leave the labor force over finding a job in the labor market," write the Roosevelt Institute's Arjun Jayadev and Michael Konczal.

Since the recession began in December 2007, 4.7 million people have dropped out of the labor force, which means they lost hope of finding work and so quit looking. Even more people would have given up on their job searches had it not been for a dramatic increase in unemployment benefits, which encourage the jobless to keep searching, according to the report's authors.

If policymakers fail to address long-term joblessness and the large number of people dropping out of the labor force, the report says, the unemployment problem could become permanent. "Officials need to act in a bold and imaginative manner to repair the labor market's dysfunction -- much as Roosevelt did -- or risk entrenching the social misery that engulfs many Americans today," Jayadev and Konczal write.

Here's a graph from the Roosevelt Institute that compares the flow of workers between employment, unemployment and separation from the labor force:

Comments

[3in1]

06:36 PM on 09/21/2010

Department of Labor uses too many models. Needs a outside group to audit without Department revisions. Crap in Crap out. Same goes to groups who use these figures.

[Longtimeliberal]

05:09 PM on 09/21/2010

Quit giving money away to companies outsourciing our jobs and level the playing field. Stop the loopholes and let offshoring be taxed which wd lower rates to business here and increase the likelihood of jobs here. Now, the truth is the Big Boys will attack this and are now as that is what the administration is doing.

[tangolas]

02:46 PM on 09/21/2010

Repeal NAFTA.

[apefool]

03:14 PM on 09/21/2010

and a lot of mexican jobs moved to asia
key is local goods, plus solar for power and jobs
america wants to work

[booki]

02:25 PM on 09/21/2010

this might sound silly, i have been officially unemployed for over 2 years. ( i do pet sitting, song writing, studio work) (nothing that brings in continual income).
i have been wearing shades, for the last few years, and now my eyes have become photo sensitive,,, RX sunglasses, i have a stigmatism.
if i go into a room with w/o my shades........i have a difficult time focusing..
oh well, my last 3 bosses........i told off........
i just can't fathom working for anyone kissing a/ss again.

[oldngrumpy]

09:56 PM on 09/21/2010

While most bosses are conservatives and yap continually about going back to "constitutional government", they wouldn't last 15 min in the environment of the workplace in that era. There is nothing like having an armed workforce with a strong independent streak to bring out the polite in the meanest of bosses. I supervised a crew of beef luggers and loading dock workers in a packing plant and it was a great lesson in humility and getting along. The typical jerk boss would find themselves hung by the chin from a meathook and stowed away in the front of a refrigerated trailer on a 1000 mile journey before the doors opened.

[tinwhistler]

01:37 PM on 09/21/2010

There are several things Obama and the Democrats could have done and should not done to improve the job situation. In 2009, they should have eliminated the corporate tax as a stimulative measure. That would have cost less than one-fifth of the Stimulus Plan, but that did not pay back the teachers and other unions for their 2008 support. They should not have brought up health care, Card Check, Cap & Trade, income tax increases, or anything else that causes economic uncertainty for business, and Obama should not have demonized businesses, as he did with insurance companies and energy companies. Class warfare by the president does not make for an investment environment.

[Beachchick]

04:59 PM on 09/21/2010

Consumers with empty bank accounts and not net worth (90 percent of Americans) doesn't attract investors nor does political instability.

[tinwhistler]

06:25 PM on 09/21/2010

Investors go wherever there is money to be made. Political instability, especially if there is a potential for a socialist takeover, is an investment killer, but multi-national companies do not need an American markets for their products in order to build their factories here. They need workers at a competitive wage, cheap shipping, and no other unnecessary costs, like corporate taxes.

[Barbara Saunders]

01:30 PM on 09/21/2010

As I understand it, there is no good count of people working as independent contractors in business or of those who live on some combination contracting, part-time or temporary jobs, and/or micro-business. I used to contract for a major technology company. The company has a pool of more than 10,0001099 workers who work for years on end, many of them earning six figures. Right now, these people would count as "having left the labor force."

[Foundryman]

01:10 PM on 09/21/2010

If they wanted to seriously take action to reduce the unemployment rate and get people back to work, they would make unemployment benefits permanent as long as the rate is above 7% and lay a special tax on business profits and cash reserves to fund it. We would see businesses start hiring instead of sitting on the trillions of cash reserves almost immediately.

[oldngrumpy]

10:09 PM on 09/21/2010

The businesses that would normally do the hiring are not the ones sitting on the money. The money is hidden away in investments and T bills making a decent return, considering that it is "OUR" money to start with. We have come to the end of the Republican / capitalist wet dream where workers finance their own wages and don't even ask for a cut of the profits.

[DuniyoDotCom]

12:48 PM on 09/21/2010

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover..”
-Mark Twain

Giving up is the not the solution. I lost of 10K of my student loans in stock and I haven't give up. I would rather die looking for opportunities than seating in my chair.

http://www.duniyo.com/diary

[apefool]

03:04 PM on 09/21/2010

undertakers are still doing ok
thanks

[oldngrumpy]

10:10 PM on 09/21/2010

You should get a refund on that loan, - - or spellcheck.

[harveyr2]

12:38 PM on 09/21/2010

Increasing the length of unemployment insurance is not the solution. The single solution is for Obama to cease his attack on businesses and those who create jobs.

No businessperson will invest in this current environment. The president could fix this but he is too focused on increasing the reach of the federal government.

[Foundryman]

12:46 PM on 09/21/2010

no business invested in the low tax, business friendly environment of Bush either. What they did do is pocket the tax cuts and move the work to China. One day people will come to realize the lie of Reagans trickle down theory, but not until unemployment reaches 25 to 30%, which will most likely include you.

[halfpricefaustian]

12:57 PM on 09/21/2010

IBM started layoffs in February of 09, just after they announced their best results ever. They are still reducing North America jobs and hiring in India and China. It has nothing to do with Obama's policies, it's about the bottom line, the availablilty of cheap hires abroad, and cutting their health insurance costs.

[TracerTong]

04:43 PM on 09/22/2010

Again, you don't understand what is happening. Corporations in America are sitting on record amounts of cash that they are simply not spending on expansion. You are listening to businessmen when you should be listening to the economists that have been right this whole time.

I mean, when you go car shopping do you take everything the Car Salesmen says at face value? What gullibility!

[Mary from FL]

12:32 PM on 09/21/2010

The unemployed have NOT all left the labor force!!! They are still trying to find jobs but are NO LONGER COUNTED as looking for work because states will not permit unemployed to sign up to be counted UNLESS they are receiving benefits. The long-term unemployed (called 99ers) are increasingly depressed & homeless as well as hungry. What this country needs NOW is Tier V unemployment benefits until the unemployment rate drops to at least 5% for 3 consecutive months to allow these people some sort of lifeline while jobs programs are created. Many 99er suicides have already happened. Please ask your senator & congressperson to support Tier V unemployment for our American citizens who lost their jobs thru NO FAULT OF THEIR OWN!! Those over age 45 are not finding any jobs that will hire them- many are told they are "too old" or just not called after applying- age discrimination runs rampant today in hiring practices. They are too young to retire and too old to get hired. The fault is with the hiring managers and the fact that there are 6 applicants for every 1 job. The over age 45 unemployed will be lucky to get called for a job AFTER the youngsters are hired and that could take a good long while. What are they supposed to live on until that happens?

[oldngrumpy]

10:19 PM on 09/21/2010

If some of those suicides took a Repug out with them you would see things ease up a bit. Nothing like uncertainty of your physical safety to make you realize your humanity.

[wutzurbeef]

05:48 PM on 09/22/2010

Many employers now have a clause in their applications, stating that the unemployed need not apply. You can only apply if your currently employed. This is thwarting many from obtaining jobs. I view these tactics as extremely discriminatory. That goes along with the current credit scoring system needs to be changed in order to help economic recovery. Pretty soon, no one will be able to BREATH without a good credit score.

[WillametteThinker]

12:18 PM on 09/21/2010

What does "drop out of the labor force" mean? Does it mean that America has a far better safety net than is usually thought (whether subsidized or through the kindness of family and friends), since earning a living is optional for so many? Or does it mean that they are now living under a bridge, starving, and near death? People who actually need employment don't have the option to just "drop out." So perhaps these are jobs that weren't actually needed in the first place? Please shed more light on the subject.

[hi Im back]

01:01 PM on 09/21/2010

I never understood that, or the saying----"They suddenly started looking again..."

What??? All of a sudden on Wednesday, exactly 6:03 AM----MILLIONS of Americans suddenly jumped out of bed, and they all ran to the one opening in the city????? All at the same exact second?

I guess until that EXACT moment in time, they were all....MILLIONS of unemployed Americans......just laying around and watching TV...eating bon-bons....they suddenly decided to start looking again!!!!! Wow!!!!!......WOW!!!!!!

Living under a bridge and starving to death..for many
Lets hear a------God bless America.......do I get an amen?.....God??????

[oldngrumpy]

10:35 PM on 09/21/2010

Unemployment is figured by the number of people claiming benefits, not the actual number of people who are unemployed. When benefits are extended there "ARE" millions of people placed back on the rolls at one time. I'm sure they were all looking for jobs, whatever their status.

[75thRanger]

12:14 PM on 09/21/2010

Well that should help President Obama's high unemployment rate.

“Sua Sponte”

[mashtoe]

12:04 PM on 09/21/2010

And it's only going to get worse. Free trade with slave labor China, NAFTA, and H-1b mean all of us are at huge risk. All thanks to both our political parties who believe in corporate welfare over the general welfare.

[Vince Weiguang Li]

11:46 AM on 09/21/2010

Big deal, just follow the sage advice of Obama's illegal alien aunty Z. She never has had a job since the day she entered the country and stayed, living in public housing on govt disablity while never having paid a cent into the system.

see it here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZLJm2gDyS4&feature=player_embedded

When asked how she was able to pay for the high priced representation of a prominent immigration legal firm, that somehow reversed her order of deportation after 6 years of refusal to honor the court order, She says that Heaven provided it to her. (Note: she says her American dream was an American nightmare... but she still refused to leave)

So dont worry about no job, poor economy, just like Aunty Z Heaven will drop everything you need right in your lap. Or maybe it might just be the nameless, faceless taxpayer money doled out to you by another nameless, faceless govt worker.

Note: when asked how she, a completely unemployed illegal alien or order of deportation, felt about having received public largess when other citizens, who have paid in the system, ask for and cannot get public housing and govt assistance, Aunty Z is unapologetic.

Question: Why did the Judge reverse his order of deportation? Could it have been improper govt influence at the request of the President or someone in authority in the administration? (or a job offer?) And who is the mysterious Heaven that paid the legal bills?

[TracerTong]

04:44 PM on 09/22/2010

Let me know when you have a point.

[tbone99]

11:41 AM on 09/21/2010

Need a job ?
The cream of U.S. corporate society are still investing in American workers!

IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more.

All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor where they can pay between 17c and $2/hr.

[Former] Oregon State Representative Kevin Mannix recently urged Nike to cut its production in Indonesia and bring it to his state, telling the shoe manufacturer that "there won't be any transportation costs; we're offering you competitive prison labor (here)."

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8289

[Sweet Leaf]

11:53 AM on 09/21/2010

AT&T announced internally yesterday they are planning more layoffs.

Randall Stephenson needs to squeeze more bonus money out of his obedient workers.

Apparently $20 Million in 2009 wasn't enough.

[tbone99]

11:58 AM on 09/21/2010

I'm sure prison investors will welcome them with open arms !
Prison also provides cheap housing and no transportation costs for inmates

“For the tycoons who have invested in the prison industry, it has been like finding a pot of gold. They don't have to worry about strikes or paying unemployment insurance, vacations or comp time.
All of their workers are full-time, and never arrive late or are absent because of family problems; moreover, if they don't like the low pay and lack of benefits and refuse to work, they are locked up in isolation cells.”

[apefool]

03:09 PM on 09/21/2010

sad and true
just look at the oil spill clean up crew
and americans shop on