SandBoxBlogs: Hot Air Blog "Joblessness during prime working years worst in 23 years"

Ed Morrissey:
"Supporters of Barack Obama point to the overall jobless rate and its slow decline to argue that his economic policies have worked, and just need more time to bring back widespread prosperity. 

Opponents point to U-6 numbers and the actual number of net jobs created in his term (hint: less than zero) to argue that Obamanomics has been a failure.  Who has the better argument?  Consider a new analysis from the Washington Post, which shows just how bad the jobs situation has been all along:

The proportion of Americans in their prime working years who have jobs is smaller than it has been at any time in the 23 years before the recession, according to federal statistics, reflecting the profound and lasting effects that the downturn has had on the nation’s economic prospects.
By this measure, the jobs situation has improved little in recent years. The percentage of workers between the ages of 25 and 54 who have jobs now stands at 75.7 percent, just a percentage point over what it was at the downturn’s worst, according to federal statistics.
Before the recession the proportion hovered at 80 percent.

This captures the “missing workers” phenomenon, which the topline jobless rate ignores, and shows how poorly this recovery has performed.  Even if one counts from the beginning of the recovery rather than from the beginning of Obama’s term, we have added 3.087 million private-sector jobs in the last 34 months, for an average of 90,079 jobs added per month — too low to keep up with population growth, which adds around 120,000 workforce-eligible adults each month. 

We aren’t even really treading water but falling behind slightly over that period....)
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"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Town Hall "Hopeless Change for the Young"

Bob Beauprez:
"In 2008, Obama inspired legions of young Americans who bought into his "Change you can believe in" campaign message. According to the Pew Research Center, voters under the age of 30 supported Obama over John McCain 66:31 – by far the largest disparity between young voters and other age groups in any presidential election since exit polling began in 1972. In addition to the critical vote totals, Obama attracted thousands of high energy campaign volunteers that brought unbridled enthusiasm to his campaign of Hope-and-Change.

Sadly, three years later, it is more like Hopeless Change that millions of young Americans face. In exchange for that 2:1 vote of confidence they gave Obama in 2008, the 18-29 year-olds are feeling the brunt of the economic stagnation – often by twice the degree of all other age groups. According to the Wall Street Journal, "The U.S. labor market is in a malaise, but young adults are in crisis."

Maybe you hadn't noticed, but the recession supposedly ended almost three years ago. According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, NBER, the economic downturn that began in December 2007, lasted 18 months and officially ended  in June, 2009. NBER defines a recession is a period of falling economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales. Economists declare the end of a recession when the declining trend is reversed....." (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetic pursuit and tracking of patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: Aspen Daily News "County demand for food stamps continues on its four-year climb"

Andrew Travers:
"Demand from Pitkin County residents for federal food assistance has increased more than five-fold in recent years.

The number of low-income locals using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) continued its dramatic rise in 2011, demonstrating continuing economic hardship for some area residents. Since 2007, the number of clients has gone up 558 percent, while the funds used have risen 836 percent.

A total of 171 county households took part in the program in 2011. They were granted a total of more than $453,000 in food vouchers.

“We are deluged,” said county health and human services director Nan Sundeen. “The demand for public assistance has grown, and staying on top of it is our biggest challenge.”

The SNAP program — which no longer uses actual stamps, but debit cards instead — allows participants to purchase bread, vegetables, meat and other food products. It blocks purchases of non-food items like vitamins, tobacco and liquor.

Due to the historically scant number of Aspenites using food stamps, the county has not typically devoted many resources to the program. The county partners with Eagle County to oversee food cards for the mid- to upper-Roaring Fork Valley. Demand has stretched both governments’ resources thin. Pitkin County paid to add a new staff position in 2010 to meet the unprecedented demand.

While the feds pay for the benefits, local governments pay to administer the program...."
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"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBoxBlogs: KKCO 11 News "Congress begins uphill battle to pass farm bill "

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Senate will begin laying the groundwork on a $1 trillion farm and food bill that would end direct payments and redesign safety nets that help farmers weather hard times. But with the bad political climate now gripping Washington, not many are predicting they’ll see a bill produced this year...."  (Read more?  Click title)

"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Daily News/Steve Skinner "American consumers occupy Black Friday"

"Dear Lord it can be embarrassing to be an American these days. Even now, when Americans are supposedly tightening belts and bemoaning the state of the economy, some are charging over unconscious people in a rush to get to the Christmas holiday deals.

According to the Huffington Post, some shoppers allegedly stepped over a collapsed man in a Target store in West Virginia as they hurried in for the best Black Friday savings. The man later died.

They say that American consumers don’t have confidence. They say that we need to purchase more stuff to grow the economy. They say we are in dire shape. But American consumer spending is up significantly over last year and some American consumers have not received the message that we are supposed to be hurting..."
(Steve Skinner)

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"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."