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Sunday, September 04, 2011

Unemployed Face Tough Competition: Underemployed

Millions of part-timers are desperate for full-time jobs

The job market is even worse than the 9.1 percent unemployment rate suggests.

America's 14 million unemployed aren't competing just with each other. They must also contend with 8.8 million other people not counted as unemployed — part-timers who want full-time work.

When consumer demand picks up, companies will likely boost the hours of their part-timers before they add jobs, economists say. It means they have room to expand without hiring.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are they taking on full time help in mexico? A lot of jobs went south. Mexicans comming here by the truck load.

Anonymous said...

Hope and change you can believe in!

lmclain said...

The job market could be a LOT better, but hundreds of companies, sitting on billions in CASH reserves, refuse to hire. PLEASE don't say its because they are "unsure of future tax issues" or "don't know what the impact of UNKNOWN FUTURE regulations" are, or are "afraid of the dark". Whatever. Don't confuse free market, or capitalism with out and out GREED. Example --- the Wal-Mart family, sitting on an aggregate personal wealth of somewhere between 175-200 billion dollars. Plus cash reserves. But, they need MORE. MORE! MORE! IF they had any concern whatsoever for the country, the American people, the state of the nation, they COULD say, hey, lets add 50, 000 jobs (McDonalds did it, but THEY can't?!). But, THAT would mean their net worth might drop a couple of billion. OH NO!!! Likewise for hundreds of OTHER U.S. companies. I'm pretty tired (and I'm a REPUBLICAN and always have been) of so-called Americans preaching the virtues of "opportunity" and "
free markets" and "capitalism" when, in fact, they are merely trying to justify their unmitigated GREED. How many mansions and fleets of cars, private islands, ranches of hundreds of square miles, billions in cash, and gluttony that would make Roman emperors embarrassed, will it take before they are satisfied? If 5000, even 10,000 of the richest companies in the U.S. would agree to add 50 jobs (on the average), it would turn the economy around almost overnight. BUT, they won't. They want to convince us that they are "hurting" and are barely "hanging on". But, they WILL preach to us and get us going in USA! USA! chants. Want to be patriotic? DO something for your country....create some jobs. Quit hiring part time help with no benefits and no future because THATS how you can add another 300 million to your bottom line this year. Or, continue to recommend a "let them eat cake" policy. See how THAT works out for ya....

Anonymous said...

7:43 PM

Damn that was a long post. I wonder what it said.