How Do People FEEL About The Recession?

I am a sucker for a good graphic:

click for ginormous copy via Mint

embedded version after the jump

Mint.com Personal Finance Software

Wow- not exactly generous with our sympathy or even respect for the unemployed. Sadly unsurprising, and it’s sad that people who got laid off because a credit bubble burst get more or less blamed for getting swept up in the contraction.

Do the 49% who believe the unemployed are being ‘too picky’ about their job selection think accepting jobs that don’t come close to paying bills is an acceptable choice?

You’d think the American worker was busy getting exceptions carved out so he could increase his leverage, or bundling toxic mortgages for ever higher returns. It’s not like all the job losses came from the mortgage-writing and financial services industry; why does an unemployed contractor or carpenter or car builder shoulder the blame for the fact that his services are no longer needed?

If you don’t want the NBER to date the recession, than stop them from doing it and let’s just do a survey of people to see how the “feel” about it. …the same people who bought dot com stocks, who thought real estate would always go up, etc… etc… those people.

lalaland,

Think about what this means for all of our wages. Executives right now are thinking about how much their employees are paid, how many people are out there who would jump on our jobs for half, or in some cases, minimum wage, and how the difference could be in their own pockets instead.

Hey, why does this chart remind me of BP?

another indicator of Main St and Wall St disconnect … no wonder the retail investors are reluctant to move into stocks, they need the cash and are either in principal protection or cash liquid positions.

@davecjohnson

That really depends on the industry. I own a tech consulting firm and I can assure you that in the hottest areas (both coasts and TX) there is already a shortage of skilled labor….again.

This is not exclusive to technology. There are many, many industries which have had jobs opened for long periods of time, some throughout the entirety of this recession, that remain unfilled. This is due to two major factors. First and foremost, a lack of skilled labor and the second being that those who can do the job are underwater on a house and can’t relo.

The dividing line between the “Cans” and the “Can Nots” is wider than I can ever remember it being. I don’t have the answer and I don’t know how to structure it, but the money spent on extended unemployment and welfare benefits would be better spent divided between the necessities and some form of “mandatory” education in a particular skill set or need.

Ex. Your area needs HL7 medical coders, the state starts a partnership with the local companies to train Hl7 coders. The state pays for the training. The people have job placement and get off the dole. The companies have coders for less than they would have had to have paid otherwise.

This is obviously a very simplistic and crude example, but you get the gist.

Big systemic problem. Small-brained man posting potential fixes in internet post. Problem remains.

Found #1 vs #12 on the bar chart to be most informative. Excellent info.

% of people “very concerned” about job security sums it up nicely. Purses and wallets will stay closed.

With all the research they would guilt people into doing to get some pissboy position at these shops- I mean, really, after 2 hours, you’d know as much as the lush CEO, who doesn’t put in that kind of effort- people surely come to the realization that many companies are shitty places to work. Money aside, it’s being around good, talented, creative people that make it worth dragging it in every morning.

I went on an interview (long time ago) where the guy had his smokin’…SMOKIN’ hot Asian assistant sit in (I’m guessing that served as the inspiration for the villain’s set-up in the latest Die Hard movie). At some point, all I could think about was that I was in a suit trying to get a job from this banana. I didn’t think the Asian bird- she had the brio of someone who was just passing the time until her night gig as a bottle rat- liked me, probably because I didn’t hit on her (it was that casual a setting) so I didn’t get the job.

Given the myriad of reasons they give for not hiring or not considering any given candidate, it would seem that the job of HR is to keep people out of the company. Further, no one would look forward to 10 years of having to explain to the general lot of jokers out there that masquerade as hiring managers and recruiters, about that 6 months you spent at some pirate ship just to keep busy…and they WILL badger your ass about it.

I would say there’s more to get out of temp hopping.

BR…I tried to look at that Chart…read it and I even “Magnified It.”

It gave me a head ache…..like it seemed to not be quite real.

WHAT IS IT? Format is kind of weird…seems to be from a RW Source…and then the GREENIE STUFF sort of distracts one from the real numbers…and there seems to be a Lack of Context..in that Poll and the way the Chart was put together.

I’m not saying it’s not “very interesting”….but there’s just some niggling weirdness about it for some reason.

Whatever…I wasn’t a Math Major…just one of those “Lib Arts” losers. LOL’S!

can’t find the legend that explains what the colors mean…duh

…I've read a lot about the illegality of the mortgage securitizing, etc. My 2 cents: If the government/Fed "bubble" contributed to this employment mess, then the gov't has a solemn DUTY to prevent a recurrence. As the charts show, the pain of job loss is widespread.

This should probably should not be a Fed job, but if certain numbers are skyrocketing (subprime loans, Lehman debt, gold, name your number), couldn't someone have slowed the train before it ran off the tracks? Or is that the price we pay for free enterprise? But what part of free enterprise is gov't involvement (Fannie, Freddie and shenanigans)?

Thanks for the intellectual workout. You know, I miss the old WSJ.

Disclaimer: As one of the (luckier) 22% un and under-employed, it helps to hear that places are considering hiring, and the stock market is holding.

are Republicans included in ‘people’?

forwhomthebelltolls.. yes the news showed a company opening in Seattle this week hoping to hire 100 software/technical employees and not sure they could get them..

HEY BARRY, how do you reconcile this aritcle in the Economist with your claim that unions are inconsequential in elections. http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/10/unions_america

So who actually needed to read this article to have the gist about these numbers.

http://www.philstockworld.com

forwhomthebelltolls: “I own a tech consulting firm and I can assure you that in the hottest areas (both coasts and TX) there is already a shortage of skilled labor"¦.again.”

I’m in Silicon Valley and I know a lot of very highly skilled tech people with a lot of experience. Except they’re all over 50, so there is little chance they’ll get a job here. Many companies flat-out will not hire people over :a certain age.” Should I send them to your firm?

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"In contrast to astrology, one must accept the fact that success is not due to a fortuitous concourse of stars at our birth, but due to a steady trail of sparks from the grindstones of hard work, determination, good planning, and perseverance. When it comes to the future, there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those who make it happen, and those who wonder what happened." -Hossein Arsham

Initial Jobless Claims totaled 434k, well below expectations of 455k and down from 455k last week. Taking out the July 4th holiday distortion to the early July reading of 427k, today's figure is the lowest since Aug '08. Smoothing out the data has the 4 week average down to 453k from 459k last week. The Labor Dept is saying the non seasonally adjusted gain of 3% the week after Columbus Day holiday is usually more than twice that and thus there was a drop in the seasonally adjusted figure. Continuing Claims up to 26 weeks fell to the lowest since...

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