Layoffs in the U.S. have hit their highest levels since the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by government cuts, restructuring and AI.
  • Taldan@lemmy.world
    17·
    10 days ago

    Despite the scale of layoffs, unemployment remains in the low 4 percent range, suggesting that many displaced workers are having luck finding new roles

    That seems very ignorant of the trends over the past 5 years. Many people attempting to get unemployment are being denied, which leads to one of two outcomes: Either they no longer participate in the workforce or they go on disability

    Workforce participation has been trending downwards for the past several years. It’s a very worrying statistic in the modern US economy. More people are unemployed than before, they just aren’t being given unemployment benefits

    Disability has also skyrocketed. States love to push people from unemployment to disability, since the federal government covers disability payments. The problem is once a person is on disability, they’re far less likely to ever return to the workforce than if they had been on unemployment

    • ElectricWaterfall@lemmy.zipEnglish
      4·
      10 days ago

      I find the numbers here to make a lot more sense for determining unemployment. 24.1% unemployment rate and that was in June, I’d imagine it’s worse now.

      Using data compiled by the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the True Rate of Unemployment tracks the percentage of the U.S. labor force that does not have a full-time job (35+ hours a week) but wants one, has no job, or does not earn a living wage, conservatively pegged at $25,000 annually before taxes.

      https://www.lisep.org/tru

    • Blueberrydreamer@lemmynsfw.com
      1·
      10 days ago

      Unemployment rates are based in household surveying, it’s not related to the number of people collecting unemployment.

      You’re right that it’s not a complete picture though, it’s true that anyone disabled or not looking for a job (stay-at-home parents, etc.) is not included as part of the workforce. It looks like one can even be excluded from the stats now if they have not ‘actively searched for employment in the last 4 weeks’. So that can certainly skew the numbers.