Americans have traditionally been regarded as a resilient bunch
– hard-nosed, hard-working, and ambitious by most accounts – who once refused
to wilt in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Of course, that was then.
This is now.
These are the days of Obama's and progressives’ six-year odyssey into fundamental change. The left’s unwavering support and worship of their citizen of the world celebrity elevated to the highest Office of the land is often attributed to the brilliance of a Columbia and Harvard graduate whose records are sealed for no particular reason, we’re told. Entering his 66 month as President, elements of the legacy our first dark-skinned Chief Executive will be remembered for seem to have gained clarity. We’ve been told after a series of disasters, embarrassments, and inaccurate claims that Barack Obama learned of issues that shocked and disturbed the nation from the press, just as the American people did. His excuse has repeatedly been that he’s ill-informed and so detached that critical events his advisors have proven keenly aware of and actively involved in are curiously not reported to him. Perhaps his infamous avoidance of meetings and intelligence briefings has played a role, but it seems more likely that his unwillingness to come clean and approach the Office of President with the honesty and integrity the American people deserve is central to what progressives prefer to see as a child-like, rather than calculated, pathological mechanism for deception.
Since there’s little argument that the middle class was experiencing an entry-level bunny slope slide from the Clinton years onward, before accelerating into an out of control black diamond downhill race under Obama, poll after poll confirm jobs and the economy have remained Americans’ top concern. How could they not, with 118.2 million Americans having registered distinct claims following job losses through May 31, 2014, according to the DOL’s nationwide counts from the ETA since 2009.
Given the Administration’s claims, releases from the Employment & Training Administration and the Bureau of Labor Statistics this past Thursday, June 5th and Friday, June 6th might have offered clarity with reasons for concern, but press reports from Obama appointee Thomas Perez’ staff lack honest, in-depth analysis or explanation. What reaches the public, and apparently the President, is the most positive spin available from dozens of metrics and hundreds of data points gathered from surveys taken of some 50,000 respondents out of 60,000 contacts made to strategically selected households by the BLS. They’re rotated on a four-month basis and represent about 3 out of 20,000 households nationwide to arrive at the CPS figures presented in the Employment Situation Report. In comparison, the ETA advance report is drawn up from each state’s counts of distinct claims for unemployment assistance following separation from jobs and income for a number that was regarded as more accurate than Census figures ahead of Perez’ installation, which, inexplicably, led to heart-stopping amusement-park-like drops in job loss counts. Nevertheless, cumulative figures from the ETA will top 118.5 million Americans having suffered job losses under Obama by Saturday, June 7th when the figures are released later this week. For those interested in the math of our currently entrenched pace, the Obama Administration will have overseen an economy having shed 120 million jobs sometime during the week following Independence Day, which will be celebrated by tens of millions unable to see the term as descriptive of their personal circumstances any longer.
The release of the BLS Employment Situation Report Friday focused on survey responses indicating what are seen as preliminary estimates of 217,000 private sector jobs added during the month of May. Using alternate CPS metrics from the same report, Household Data Table A-1 indicated the nation’s employment increased by a more modest 145,000 overall, and the increase in part time employment for noneconomic reasons – the category assigned to new and returning workers unable to secure full time employment – showed 154,000 on Table A. Clearly, the number of part time jobs taken by workers in search of self-sufficiency exceeded the total number of jobs added for the month, and it was about three-quarters of the CES estimate of private jobs added in May.
Believe it or not, most would consider that brief analysis the good news. There’s precious little more to support a healthy, growing economy. Of course, Americans deserve to hear the real state of the economy and workforce, even if such information never reaches the President. Remember, he already got his own Labor Department spin from reports the mainstream media mostly takes directly from high-ranking Obama appointees, rather than utilizing mathematicians or statisticians to parse data for the real story.
Among the highly anticipated rites of spring passage for Americans attending secondary and post-secondary institutions are annual May to early June graduations from the nation’s high schools and colleges. According to the Digest of Education Statistics, last month saw another estimated 4.75 million higher education graduates earn degrees or comparable award. This marks the sixth time under Obama for that dramatic workforce infusion, which has contributed more than 27.5 million highly trained young adults who’ve been readied, trained, and, often, deeply invested in securing careers with hopes and dreams of independent adulthood Obama mentioned repeatedly in campaign rhetoric. The extensive DES report shows about a third of the nation’s youth won’t attend or graduate college, so another 13-plus million have entered the job market with lesser credentials from high school and trade school programs. What might surprise some would be the more than 5.5 million who’ve now earned advanced degrees, including masters, professional, and doctoral degrees. The latter category alone has reached almost a million for this latest crop under the current Administration, averaging more than 900,000 annually since 2009.
To understand the overall job market, it’s imperative we acknowledge Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) granted green cards have reached a mid-6-million figure under Obama, while H-1B’s together with refugees and asylees granted lesser legal status have topped 3 million. In earlier reports I described the number of new workforce hopefuls exceeding 40 million, but the latest graduation and more thorough count of DES college degrees awarded makes it appear that figure has vaulted over 50 million now. And those numbers minimize the unabated, rarely challenged illegal entry the Obama Administration penned support for with an administrative stamp of approval curtailing law enforcement for millions of Mexican National border crossers and migrants from Central and South America.
In a healthy economy, such a massive workforce infusion would inspire job growth of many millions. Instead, the ETA’s real nationwide count of workers recognizable to each of our 50 states remains down 2.35 million from the 133,886,830 Americans gainfully employed when George Bush left Office. That was by far-and-away the highest count Obama has seen. Across the President’s first nine calendar quarters, the workforce suffered 8.33 million purged from jobs and income, which held steady for the first time from January through March 2011 after manifesting predictable results from the shrinkage with a stunning 421 billion loss of Federal tax revenues in 2009. The latest count of employed Americans remains suppressed, still, at 131,532,656.
A range of additional BLS metrics show how differently some of the nation’s demographics have been impacted by the moribund economy. In my last analysis of DOL statistics, I mostly presented figures based upon what might be of greatest interest or impact to my readers. This time I’ll stick closer to the order of presentation set forth in the Employment Situation Report and limit references to disparate tables while touching on who’s hurting most and who’s done modestly well in an ugly economy.
During May, the claimed 217,000 private sector jobs, and 145,000 jobs gained overall, according to preliminary survey estimates, breaks down by age for all races and nationalities on Household Data Table A-1 as follows. Men ages 16 and over gained 18,000 jobs, while those with increased education and training from ages 20 and over showed an overall loss of 7,000 jobs. Table A-1 showed males between 16-19 having a 25,000 edge over slightly older adult males, who lost jobs overall. Women ages 16 and over gained 128,000 jobs, while women of 20 and over gained 80,000 jobs. Once more, that showed a 48,000 advantage in favor of our youngest 16-19 females, and the final category on Table A-1 shows both sexes combined for ages 16-19 gaining 71,000 jobs. Because of rounding figures, disparities might give pause for thought, but there’s no way around recognizing that 16 to 19 year-olds in May accounted for half of the overall numbers of jobs added. Perhaps it’s just a bit more fitting and recognizable, then, that more than the entire 145,000 jobs added were part time for non-economic reasons, based upon full time work being unavailable or willingness of the newly employed to take modest entry-level positions.
Household Data Table A-2 offers a breakdown of employment statistics by race, ethnicity, and gender. Still showing 72.3% of the nation’s population in the latest Census statistics, there’s logic in starting with white Americans’ place in the workforce. Men ages 20 and over showed a loss of 53,000 jobs in May after suffering a 100,000 loss in April. Women ages 20 and over gained 134,000 jobs, which repeated April gains of 133,000. As far as white youth ages 16-19 for both sexes fared, the May report showed a loss of 14,000 jobs, which followed an 11,000 loss in April. Compared to peers in other demographics appearing in the BLS survey, white youth trailed their counterparts by 85,000 jobs during the month of May.
Black or African Americans showed an 8,000 overall gain in May, after a better April in which 119,000 jobs were gained overall, according to Table A-2. During the latest month, males ages 20 and over mostly held even showing a limited 3,000 job loss, which is close to the survey’s margin of error. In April, African American males gained 52,000 jobs. Black women ages 20 and over lost 26,000 jobs after gaining 36,000 in April. Black teens fared better than their adult counterparts in May, gaining 38,000 jobs for the month on top of their 30,000 increase in April.
Hispanics are given their own table with a range of metrics under Household Data Table A-3. There, Hispanic males were limited to an uncharacteristically small 20,000 gain, following a more substantial 112,000 increase in employment in April. Hispanic women showed a rare loss of 58,000 jobs, according to the survey, after a solid April indicated their ranks amongst the employed increased by 120,000. Hispanic teens ages 16-19 gained 55,000 jobs in May.
Notable across all categories is the dramatic employment advantage shown by Hispanic males, whose 80.7% participation rate was just a tick off their April rate of 80.8%. The only demographic to approach Hispanic males’ edge in employment is foreign born males who hold jobs at a 78.8% participation rate. Native born American citizens languish behind at a 67.4% participation rate, which is 11.4% behind the foreign born, while our own workers trail Hispanic males by an even greater 13.3%. Even our best educated, fully degreed college graduates, including those with masters and doctoral degrees, trail both Hispanic and foreign born males by 5.3% and 3.4% respectively, while managing to find employment at a 75.4% rate.
A final category which shows who’s gained and who’s suffering is reported on Household Data Table A-4. The table reports employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by education attainment. In that breakdown, job seekers with less than a high school diploma gained 175,000 jobs, while high school grads with no college gained 201,000 jobs. Workers with some college or an associate’s degree lost 128,000 jobs in May. After brutal months of losses to start 2014, our graduates with bachelors and higher degrees gained 76,000 jobs in May. Keep in mind, Obama’s mid-to-high 900,000 rate annually infusing newly minted masters and doctoral graduates at 75,000 to 80,000 each and every month could make one wonder whether they’re the only higher education graduates being employed any longer.
Notable on Summary Table A was a count of Americans holding steady on numbers of unemployed purged from all other BLS categories to the seldom mentioned not in labor force status. That remained just over 92 million at 92,009,000. In a related count that appears like a purgatory of sorts, not included in any other employment rate or BLS figure, marginally attached workers held mostly steady at 2,130,000 with another 697,000 discouraged workers reporting their status as having given up looking for work for a matter of weeks.
Clearly, the workforce purge and bloodied economy have impacted various groups of Americans quite differently. Hispanics have outdistanced every other demographic by gaining 3.56 million jobs since January 2009. Black or African American workforce hopefuls secured 1.07 million jobs during the same period. Remarkably, the past three BLS monthly reports have suggested white Americans added an incredible 1.72 million jobs on what was historically the least manipulated, not seasonally adjusted data, with April contributing 685,000 ahead of May’s 493,000. As a result, the nation’s majority demographic no longer appears millions down from the number of jobs Obama inherited in January 2009. White workers are reportedly down just 380,000 jobs after having 2.11 million added from February’s figures released March 7th onward. Never mind that the latter creative number approaches four times the total number of jobs added during the same four-month period, according to ETA counts, Secretary Perez’ Labor Department had to find some way to bring the figures more in line with seasonally adjusted estimates which have shown less than a million job losses for white workers since the start of the year. I won’t attempt to explain what’s long been recognized as problematic about seasonally adjusted figures published to fit statisticians and political appointees’ expectations, but it’s necessary to note once reliable data from the ETA and BLS’ not seasonally adjusted figures has been compromised and rendered almost meaningless under Thomas Perez, as well.
In an earlier analysis of March employment figures, the difference in job gains for the nation's majority demographic was compared and contrasted to Hispanics’ and African Americans’ success in the shrunken economy since 2009. With the deceptive 2.11 million phantom jobs assigned to white workers since late winter, Hispanics now show a reduced 3.94 million advantage for jobs gained, while blacks hold a 1.45 million edge. Using each groups' percentage in the populace along with rates for the unemployed from BLS counts, where whites have shown 3.5 to more than 4 times the number of each minority's job seekers for the past 65 months, the reality during the Obama Presidency is that Hispanics have gained jobs at rates 10 times as likely to be hired and blacks 4-5 times more likely to be hired than an out of work white American in need of a job. Remarkably, Hispanic and foreign born males hold a greater advantage than that. Affirmative action and progressives’ determination to favor special interest constituents over anyone other than their chosen elite, a family member of the ruling class, or the latest celebrity du-jour has been implemented just as Obama promised when he told Americans he intended to fundamentally change the nation.
These are the days of Obama's and progressives’ six-year odyssey into fundamental change. The left’s unwavering support and worship of their citizen of the world celebrity elevated to the highest Office of the land is often attributed to the brilliance of a Columbia and Harvard graduate whose records are sealed for no particular reason, we’re told. Entering his 66 month as President, elements of the legacy our first dark-skinned Chief Executive will be remembered for seem to have gained clarity. We’ve been told after a series of disasters, embarrassments, and inaccurate claims that Barack Obama learned of issues that shocked and disturbed the nation from the press, just as the American people did. His excuse has repeatedly been that he’s ill-informed and so detached that critical events his advisors have proven keenly aware of and actively involved in are curiously not reported to him. Perhaps his infamous avoidance of meetings and intelligence briefings has played a role, but it seems more likely that his unwillingness to come clean and approach the Office of President with the honesty and integrity the American people deserve is central to what progressives prefer to see as a child-like, rather than calculated, pathological mechanism for deception.
Since there’s little argument that the middle class was experiencing an entry-level bunny slope slide from the Clinton years onward, before accelerating into an out of control black diamond downhill race under Obama, poll after poll confirm jobs and the economy have remained Americans’ top concern. How could they not, with 118.2 million Americans having registered distinct claims following job losses through May 31, 2014, according to the DOL’s nationwide counts from the ETA since 2009.
Given the Administration’s claims, releases from the Employment & Training Administration and the Bureau of Labor Statistics this past Thursday, June 5th and Friday, June 6th might have offered clarity with reasons for concern, but press reports from Obama appointee Thomas Perez’ staff lack honest, in-depth analysis or explanation. What reaches the public, and apparently the President, is the most positive spin available from dozens of metrics and hundreds of data points gathered from surveys taken of some 50,000 respondents out of 60,000 contacts made to strategically selected households by the BLS. They’re rotated on a four-month basis and represent about 3 out of 20,000 households nationwide to arrive at the CPS figures presented in the Employment Situation Report. In comparison, the ETA advance report is drawn up from each state’s counts of distinct claims for unemployment assistance following separation from jobs and income for a number that was regarded as more accurate than Census figures ahead of Perez’ installation, which, inexplicably, led to heart-stopping amusement-park-like drops in job loss counts. Nevertheless, cumulative figures from the ETA will top 118.5 million Americans having suffered job losses under Obama by Saturday, June 7th when the figures are released later this week. For those interested in the math of our currently entrenched pace, the Obama Administration will have overseen an economy having shed 120 million jobs sometime during the week following Independence Day, which will be celebrated by tens of millions unable to see the term as descriptive of their personal circumstances any longer.
The release of the BLS Employment Situation Report Friday focused on survey responses indicating what are seen as preliminary estimates of 217,000 private sector jobs added during the month of May. Using alternate CPS metrics from the same report, Household Data Table A-1 indicated the nation’s employment increased by a more modest 145,000 overall, and the increase in part time employment for noneconomic reasons – the category assigned to new and returning workers unable to secure full time employment – showed 154,000 on Table A. Clearly, the number of part time jobs taken by workers in search of self-sufficiency exceeded the total number of jobs added for the month, and it was about three-quarters of the CES estimate of private jobs added in May.
Believe it or not, most would consider that brief analysis the good news. There’s precious little more to support a healthy, growing economy. Of course, Americans deserve to hear the real state of the economy and workforce, even if such information never reaches the President. Remember, he already got his own Labor Department spin from reports the mainstream media mostly takes directly from high-ranking Obama appointees, rather than utilizing mathematicians or statisticians to parse data for the real story.
Among the highly anticipated rites of spring passage for Americans attending secondary and post-secondary institutions are annual May to early June graduations from the nation’s high schools and colleges. According to the Digest of Education Statistics, last month saw another estimated 4.75 million higher education graduates earn degrees or comparable award. This marks the sixth time under Obama for that dramatic workforce infusion, which has contributed more than 27.5 million highly trained young adults who’ve been readied, trained, and, often, deeply invested in securing careers with hopes and dreams of independent adulthood Obama mentioned repeatedly in campaign rhetoric. The extensive DES report shows about a third of the nation’s youth won’t attend or graduate college, so another 13-plus million have entered the job market with lesser credentials from high school and trade school programs. What might surprise some would be the more than 5.5 million who’ve now earned advanced degrees, including masters, professional, and doctoral degrees. The latter category alone has reached almost a million for this latest crop under the current Administration, averaging more than 900,000 annually since 2009.
To understand the overall job market, it’s imperative we acknowledge Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) granted green cards have reached a mid-6-million figure under Obama, while H-1B’s together with refugees and asylees granted lesser legal status have topped 3 million. In earlier reports I described the number of new workforce hopefuls exceeding 40 million, but the latest graduation and more thorough count of DES college degrees awarded makes it appear that figure has vaulted over 50 million now. And those numbers minimize the unabated, rarely challenged illegal entry the Obama Administration penned support for with an administrative stamp of approval curtailing law enforcement for millions of Mexican National border crossers and migrants from Central and South America.
In a healthy economy, such a massive workforce infusion would inspire job growth of many millions. Instead, the ETA’s real nationwide count of workers recognizable to each of our 50 states remains down 2.35 million from the 133,886,830 Americans gainfully employed when George Bush left Office. That was by far-and-away the highest count Obama has seen. Across the President’s first nine calendar quarters, the workforce suffered 8.33 million purged from jobs and income, which held steady for the first time from January through March 2011 after manifesting predictable results from the shrinkage with a stunning 421 billion loss of Federal tax revenues in 2009. The latest count of employed Americans remains suppressed, still, at 131,532,656.
A range of additional BLS metrics show how differently some of the nation’s demographics have been impacted by the moribund economy. In my last analysis of DOL statistics, I mostly presented figures based upon what might be of greatest interest or impact to my readers. This time I’ll stick closer to the order of presentation set forth in the Employment Situation Report and limit references to disparate tables while touching on who’s hurting most and who’s done modestly well in an ugly economy.
During May, the claimed 217,000 private sector jobs, and 145,000 jobs gained overall, according to preliminary survey estimates, breaks down by age for all races and nationalities on Household Data Table A-1 as follows. Men ages 16 and over gained 18,000 jobs, while those with increased education and training from ages 20 and over showed an overall loss of 7,000 jobs. Table A-1 showed males between 16-19 having a 25,000 edge over slightly older adult males, who lost jobs overall. Women ages 16 and over gained 128,000 jobs, while women of 20 and over gained 80,000 jobs. Once more, that showed a 48,000 advantage in favor of our youngest 16-19 females, and the final category on Table A-1 shows both sexes combined for ages 16-19 gaining 71,000 jobs. Because of rounding figures, disparities might give pause for thought, but there’s no way around recognizing that 16 to 19 year-olds in May accounted for half of the overall numbers of jobs added. Perhaps it’s just a bit more fitting and recognizable, then, that more than the entire 145,000 jobs added were part time for non-economic reasons, based upon full time work being unavailable or willingness of the newly employed to take modest entry-level positions.
Household Data Table A-2 offers a breakdown of employment statistics by race, ethnicity, and gender. Still showing 72.3% of the nation’s population in the latest Census statistics, there’s logic in starting with white Americans’ place in the workforce. Men ages 20 and over showed a loss of 53,000 jobs in May after suffering a 100,000 loss in April. Women ages 20 and over gained 134,000 jobs, which repeated April gains of 133,000. As far as white youth ages 16-19 for both sexes fared, the May report showed a loss of 14,000 jobs, which followed an 11,000 loss in April. Compared to peers in other demographics appearing in the BLS survey, white youth trailed their counterparts by 85,000 jobs during the month of May.
Black or African Americans showed an 8,000 overall gain in May, after a better April in which 119,000 jobs were gained overall, according to Table A-2. During the latest month, males ages 20 and over mostly held even showing a limited 3,000 job loss, which is close to the survey’s margin of error. In April, African American males gained 52,000 jobs. Black women ages 20 and over lost 26,000 jobs after gaining 36,000 in April. Black teens fared better than their adult counterparts in May, gaining 38,000 jobs for the month on top of their 30,000 increase in April.
Hispanics are given their own table with a range of metrics under Household Data Table A-3. There, Hispanic males were limited to an uncharacteristically small 20,000 gain, following a more substantial 112,000 increase in employment in April. Hispanic women showed a rare loss of 58,000 jobs, according to the survey, after a solid April indicated their ranks amongst the employed increased by 120,000. Hispanic teens ages 16-19 gained 55,000 jobs in May.
Notable across all categories is the dramatic employment advantage shown by Hispanic males, whose 80.7% participation rate was just a tick off their April rate of 80.8%. The only demographic to approach Hispanic males’ edge in employment is foreign born males who hold jobs at a 78.8% participation rate. Native born American citizens languish behind at a 67.4% participation rate, which is 11.4% behind the foreign born, while our own workers trail Hispanic males by an even greater 13.3%. Even our best educated, fully degreed college graduates, including those with masters and doctoral degrees, trail both Hispanic and foreign born males by 5.3% and 3.4% respectively, while managing to find employment at a 75.4% rate.
A final category which shows who’s gained and who’s suffering is reported on Household Data Table A-4. The table reports employment status of the civilian population 25 years and over by education attainment. In that breakdown, job seekers with less than a high school diploma gained 175,000 jobs, while high school grads with no college gained 201,000 jobs. Workers with some college or an associate’s degree lost 128,000 jobs in May. After brutal months of losses to start 2014, our graduates with bachelors and higher degrees gained 76,000 jobs in May. Keep in mind, Obama’s mid-to-high 900,000 rate annually infusing newly minted masters and doctoral graduates at 75,000 to 80,000 each and every month could make one wonder whether they’re the only higher education graduates being employed any longer.
Notable on Summary Table A was a count of Americans holding steady on numbers of unemployed purged from all other BLS categories to the seldom mentioned not in labor force status. That remained just over 92 million at 92,009,000. In a related count that appears like a purgatory of sorts, not included in any other employment rate or BLS figure, marginally attached workers held mostly steady at 2,130,000 with another 697,000 discouraged workers reporting their status as having given up looking for work for a matter of weeks.
Clearly, the workforce purge and bloodied economy have impacted various groups of Americans quite differently. Hispanics have outdistanced every other demographic by gaining 3.56 million jobs since January 2009. Black or African American workforce hopefuls secured 1.07 million jobs during the same period. Remarkably, the past three BLS monthly reports have suggested white Americans added an incredible 1.72 million jobs on what was historically the least manipulated, not seasonally adjusted data, with April contributing 685,000 ahead of May’s 493,000. As a result, the nation’s majority demographic no longer appears millions down from the number of jobs Obama inherited in January 2009. White workers are reportedly down just 380,000 jobs after having 2.11 million added from February’s figures released March 7th onward. Never mind that the latter creative number approaches four times the total number of jobs added during the same four-month period, according to ETA counts, Secretary Perez’ Labor Department had to find some way to bring the figures more in line with seasonally adjusted estimates which have shown less than a million job losses for white workers since the start of the year. I won’t attempt to explain what’s long been recognized as problematic about seasonally adjusted figures published to fit statisticians and political appointees’ expectations, but it’s necessary to note once reliable data from the ETA and BLS’ not seasonally adjusted figures has been compromised and rendered almost meaningless under Thomas Perez, as well.
In an earlier analysis of March employment figures, the difference in job gains for the nation's majority demographic was compared and contrasted to Hispanics’ and African Americans’ success in the shrunken economy since 2009. With the deceptive 2.11 million phantom jobs assigned to white workers since late winter, Hispanics now show a reduced 3.94 million advantage for jobs gained, while blacks hold a 1.45 million edge. Using each groups' percentage in the populace along with rates for the unemployed from BLS counts, where whites have shown 3.5 to more than 4 times the number of each minority's job seekers for the past 65 months, the reality during the Obama Presidency is that Hispanics have gained jobs at rates 10 times as likely to be hired and blacks 4-5 times more likely to be hired than an out of work white American in need of a job. Remarkably, Hispanic and foreign born males hold a greater advantage than that. Affirmative action and progressives’ determination to favor special interest constituents over anyone other than their chosen elite, a family member of the ruling class, or the latest celebrity du-jour has been implemented just as Obama promised when he told Americans he intended to fundamentally change the nation.
