We’re all well aware of the current state of the job market: it’s not good. Some experts are using reports of a lowered unemployment rate as a sign of improving job market health while others simply contribute this to more of the unemployed giving up and no longer searching for a job. In that case, the job market is not getting any healthier.
To really drive the message home, Visual.ly published this infographic giving the hardcore facts of unemployment in this country. The first thing you see when you look at it is that 15 million people in the United States are unemployed. 15 million. To reiterate the struggle, on average it takes an unemployed American close to 33 weeks to find a job. That’s almost an entire year. Specifically, it’s 231 days. During that time span, if the job seeker was working a minimum wage position full-time, they could have earned $9,570. For an unemployed American supporting a family, that is a lot of money lost.
As if that isn’t difficult enough, a person that is unemployed for less than five weeks has a better chance of getting hired than a person that has been unemployed for more than a year. In terms of manufacturing, we are not at our best right now. We currently have less than 12 million Americans working in the manufacturing industry. The last time the figures were this low it was 1941. Furthermore, since 2000 we have lost 32 percent of our manufacturing jobs. So, while there are reports that our market is getting better, we know there is still much work to be done.
329 comments