Employment Situation: An Inside Look

Check out the divergence between those unemployed from ages 20-24 and those aged 25-34. Currently there are about 1,000,000 more people that are unemployed in the 25-34 age bracket than in the 20-24 age bracket.

These values used to coincide but now the spread between them is widening which suggests that younger people may have an advantage when it comes to getting hired.  They're less picky and more willing to accept anything that has some dollar signs attached to it versus the older and more demanding unemployed member of society. In the graph below the blue line represents those aged 25-34 that are unemployed and the black line is for 20-24 age range.

Check out the below graph which shows the unemployment rate for those over 25 with a bachelors  degree, those without one and those that didn't graduate high school.  Getting a bachelors is not a sufficient condition for employment but as the  graph below shows, you do have greater job security.

Additionally, check out the spread between those with a bachelors and those who graduated high school. Notice how this spread has widened.  This suggests that those with bachelors are certainly less susceptible to economic fluctuations and that getting through those student loans is definitely worth it.

The unemployment rate for those who graduated high school is currently 4% higher than those that got their bachelors. Lesson of the day: Read more books and get some education. I got to keep dancin' and so should you!

Steven J.

Unemployment Insurance Claims: Healing Slowly but Surely.

The following graph compares the 4 week moving average of initial claims from the 2007 peak with the one from the 1981 recession.  As you can see, jobless claims have been much more persistent than in previous recessions.

The blue line is from the 2007 and the dashed red line is from 1981.  The x-axis is in weeks after the peak. As the graph suggests- we still have a ways to go before we get back to normal levels but what it also shows is that much healing has already taken place.  This is undoubtedly good news for fridays Employment Situation.

Keep Dancin'

Steven J.