Today it was announced that the average official unemployment across the United States is at 8.1%. I say "officially" because there are factors the government does not take into consideration when determining the "official unemployment" rate. In practical terms, which would include those factors omitted from "official" reports, the unemployment rate is probably closer to 10%. Either figure is higher than unemployment at the beginning of the Great Depression! The second figure - my estimate of 10% - is equal to the unemployment rate during the peak 21 months of unemployment of the Great Depression.
In just the past two months we have seen unemployment grow by 1,200,000 - that's an loss of 1.2 million American jobs in 60 days. In the past year "official unemployment" has increased by over 8,000,000!
I live in Josephine County Oregon, and our "official unemployment" statistics were published in last nights' paper - a whopping 14.6% - which, when translated into real-world, practical terms, is probably closer to 17-18%. That's a LOT of folks unofficially out of work! In 2007 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated our population at 81,056 and, using a mean average of 17.5%, it translates to 14,185 unemployed. That's roughly the equivalent of having half the population of Grants Pass, Oregon out of work! It's not a pretty picture.
The current population of the United States is estimated at 305,957,000. An 8.1% unemployment rate would mean 24,782,517 people are unemployed nationwide. Combine that with rampant inflation, unreliable financial institutions, floundering giant corporations, outsourcing of American jobs, and a newly-elected government administration that practically invites illegal aliens to migrate into our country, and one which investors obviously do not believe in, and you have all the makings for some serious unrest.
Could I be wrong about this? I suppose it's possible ...................................... GOTCHA!! I was just kidding about it being possible!
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