June Unemployment Numbers

Would everyone please calm down.

The June unemployment rate came out yesterday at 9.5 –a 26 year high. This means the last time we saw 9.5 was in August of ’83. So while everyone is interested in saying that it hasn’t been this bad since the 80s, but we would do well to note that the average unemployment rate from January to July of 1983 was 10.1. We haven’t set any records here.

Furthermore, last month I reported (along with the rest of the world), that unemployment had spiked to 9.4% up from 8.9%. That’s a .5% increase. But May-June, the unemployment rate went up 9.4% to 9.5% –a .1% increase. The rate of unemployment seems to be losing steam. That’s good news!

I wanted to post on this yesterday, but I was up to my eyeballs in music stuff, so Scott Grannisbeat me to the punch. Grannis also reports corporations are laying off less people. Also a good step forward.

Reading the reports about these numbers reminded me of a poem I read a long time ago

The optimists and the pessimist
The difference is quite droll
The optimists sees the doughnut
The pessimist see the hole