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Mortimer Zuckerman digs into the jobless numbers and finds that "they're even worse than they...

  • Sunday, September 9, 2012, 6:14 AM ET
    Mortimer Zuckerman digs into the jobless numbers and finds that "they're even worse than they look." The headline rate may have fallen, but there are 5.2M "long-term" unemployed, while 8M have no job but are not counted as they've not looked for work in the past four weeks. Add in involuntary part-time workers, and Zuckerman reckons that the real unemployment rate is closer to 19%, as it was almost a year ago.
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This news story has 18 comments:

  • Agree. This American tragedy committed on human capital is conveniently unexposed "elephant in the room" almost as big as the $16 TRILLION dollar debt....... soon to be $20 TRILLION if Bama is reelected.
    If the mainstream media would proudly do its job there would be a loud outcry for a "growth and jobs" President who would among other things truly seek to get us energy independent by 2020 with pipelines, natural gas, oil, and "all of the above.
    There can be an American energy revolution as big as the automotive one of the model T if we vote to return our kids to work and have jobs waiting for them when they graduate college !
    Romney HAS clearly laid out that plan and the media could be telling that story....
    9 Sep 2012, 08:07 AM Reply Like
  • How long have you been unemployed YellowLab?
    9 Sep 2012, 07:55 PM Reply Like
  • kmi,

    Don't understand your question. But the answer is I've been employed 32 years since graduating medical school. Actually worked many years before that mowing lawns, cleaning toilets, and cleaning and waxing floors.
    Have three children who've recently graduated college and graduate schools. They have many peers looking unsuccessfully for work, some of whom have taken unemployment, disability, many on Medicaid, and various other social welfare programs.
    9 Sep 2012, 09:56 PM Reply Like
  • I think Zuckerman may still be lowballing the real rate, but at least he's trying to deal with reality instead of living in the alternate universe that the BLS and the Dems inhabit.

    You'd hear about numbers like this 24/7 from every MSM outlet if a Republican was in the White House instead of a Dem. Like twice as many people going onto food stamps last month as there were new jobs created.
    9 Sep 2012, 08:09 AM Reply Like
  • Out of curiousity, davidingeorgia, just how much worse off are you lately, can you put a number to it?
    9 Sep 2012, 07:57 PM Reply Like
  • Obama = Jimmy Carter
    9 Sep 2012, 10:18 AM Reply Like
  • Obama's worse.
    9 Sep 2012, 10:21 AM Reply Like
  • some current letter in SJ mercury news:


    Economy better since end of the Bush era
    At one point after George W. Bush took office, gas prices (which contribute to higher food prices) had risen $3.10 per gallon. But the fact is any president can do little to affect gas prices.
    Certain economic conditions can be assigned to a president, but it is not unreasonable to allow at least six months after inauguration for his policies to take effect and be evaluated.
    If Kathy Vineyard (Letters, Sept. 2) would check the following facts from June 2009 she might feel better about "our current state of affairs" by seeing that in three important things have improved since then:

    Unemployment has dropped from 9.5 percent to 8.3 percent;

    the Dow Jones has risen from 8,280 to 13,090; and

    the GDP has risen to $15.094 trillion -- coming off the only year-over-year decline since 1960 in GDP ($14.219 trillion down to $13.864 trillion), which occurred in the period immediately following George W. Bush's tenure as president.

    His economic policies were eerily similar to what the Romney-Ryan ticket is touting. Do Republicans really want to ride that train?
    Cliff Wells
    Cupertino
    9 Sep 2012, 06:11 PM Reply Like
  • http://bit.ly/QwXsS7

    "Zuckerman, a long-time supporter of the Democratic party who cast his vote for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, was critical of President Obama on several fronts. Following the downgrade of US treasury debt by Standard & Poor's in 2011, Zuckerman wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "I long for a triple-A president to run a triple-A country."[17] After initially supporting President Obama's call for heavy infrastructure spending to revive the economy, Zuckerman criticized the composition of the plan, stating "But if you look at the make-up of the stimulus program, roughly half of it went to state and local municipalities, which is in effect to the municipal unions which are at the core of the Democratic party."
    9 Sep 2012, 11:48 AM Reply Like
  • It is a travesty that our mainstream press does not report the real facts around the condition of our work force. UE is really double digits but is being masked by a decrease in the size of the workforce as people have just given up. Or have become wards of the state through UE benefits or disability.

    I can only conclude that the press is essentially holding the truth back from the average American which means they are a lying, cheating, biased, pathetic bunch of losers.

    The American people deserve better.
    9 Sep 2012, 01:14 PM Reply Like
  • "I can only conclude that the press is essentially holding the truth back from the average American which means they are a lying, cheating, biased, pathetic bunch of losers."

    Ouch. Lying and cheating? These quasi-intellectuals have been brainwashed in school to think they understand everything and are qualified to so comment. Not a bit of humility in the bunch. (Humility: a recognition of one's strengths AND weaknesses). The losers I'll go along with.
    9 Sep 2012, 10:39 PM Reply Like
  • Hang on. Isn't Mort Zuckerman one of the job creators? Looks like he's doing a pretty lousy job. If he can't hold up his end of the bargain (viz. tax breaks for 1%ers in exchange for job creation) he should be fired.
    9 Sep 2012, 04:32 PM Reply Like
  • Drew,

    He voted for Obama (and Dems) before he was against him. At least he is intelligent and humble enough to admit he made a mistake.

    I'm guessing he employs more people than you do now and he sure helped employ a heckuva of a lot of people while building his businesses. The riches at the end are the end result of the hard work at the beginning and are never fore-ordained.

    Too bad the President doesn't understand this aspect of our economy and how it works.
    9 Sep 2012, 11:24 PM Reply Like
  • 1. Mortimer has his own"business" axe to grind,let check in to see
    how much government support does he depend on?

    2. If people want less government they should say NO to SS and
    take care of their parents and their kids and stopping looking
    for the government to solve their own created problems.

    3. People coming out of college should be smart enough to not
    to be looking for a hand out. Why did they go to college in the
    first place if not to learn to make it on their own.

    4. It seems that most of the comments are about blaming the
    President for their self-created problems and not see that
    the so call "loyal opposite" has been nothing but a road block
    to trying to solve some very big problems.

    5. President Obama will be re-elected like it or not. The average
    person knows that he has the best interest of this country
    and has overcome a great mess that was left behind by the
    "other" party.

    6. Romney/Rhine is a scary twosome with no details,plus
    the refusal to release tax information leaves a great
    doubt about what Romney is hiding. Out sourcing,secret
    bank accounts, magical underwear, and no world experience
    in dealing with other countries are just a few reasons why
    we need Obama for the next 4 years.
    10 Sep 2012, 07:35 AM Reply Like
  • Sadly, #6 is very true. I know GaltMachine won't agree, but oh well lol
    10 Sep 2012, 10:14 AM Reply Like
  • As far as #6 goes, what is the empty chair's plan other than just hoping?
    10 Sep 2012, 10:58 AM Reply Like
  • Play a few more golf rounds, build more national debt (20 TRILLION here we come), chat with the gals on The View and Oprah, let the NY Times write a few more "hair on my legs standing up" pieces, and watch all the main stream media lemmings tell us why he's so wonderful...... though he's granting ZERO press conferences. That's OK, it's OK, hope and change.
    10 Sep 2012, 12:41 PM Reply Like
  • Give my parents back the money they paid into SSA and no problem I will take it from there.

    The audacity of stupidity requires people to vote for Obama. But if you are tired of a self absorbed guy who writes his own biographies before he has even done anything in life for anyone else then perhaps you ought to look beyond him. R&R at least know how to run something and all the other stuff you mention is the "hey look over here" blather put out by the Dems to hope you are stupid enough to look.

    We might actually be too far gone at this point but at least we should give it a try to pull back from going over the fiscal cliff.
    10 Sep 2012, 05:38 PM Reply Like
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