Rant

Unemployment Considered Biggest Problem Facing the Country

Posted 7 months ago|7 comments|347 views

TAGS

unemployment , economy , Congress , Obama Administration

Written by

MBurnside

I thought that I was in the minority when it came to thinking what the country considers as its biggest problem to solve. After all there is the general economy, the continuing war in the Middle East, the disillusionment of our government, and who will win the 'Dancing with the Stars' competition. All of them really important for the American people to worry about. However, I was pleased to find out that a recent Gallup poll confirmed my thought about what people consider the most important problem facing them.

It seems that unemployment is the most important issue facing the American people right now. This was followed closely by the general economy as an issue to many people as well. It seems that over 35 percent of those polled are concerned that unemployment will not be solved in the near future. What makes this news is that previous polls had shown that most Americans were concerned with the overall economy and that unemployment ranked second. It would seem that many people are more concerned about their immediate situation with working than the general need for an improved economy.

I can understand how unemployment is a major concern for many Americans. The importance of your circle of family and friends is something that many people understand quickly. The economy as a whole is a broader concept that is not immediately felt. Unemployment is still over 9 percent in most places in our country. That means there are about 14 million Americans who are right now looking for employment. Some experts say that there are another 8 million Americans who can only find part-time work and another 1 million who have given up finding work at all.

Currently it is taking the average American looking for work about 37 weeks to find something. Personally, it took me more than 90 weeks to find a job even though I was actively using every social networking, resume shot gunning, pleading, and begging technique to land one.

The economy as a whole will never be solved without finding a resolution to unemployment. People will spend when they money coming to them. I know there is no easy answer to starting employment back again, however the Obama administration and this Congress need to find answer quickly.

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sunny2

6 months ago: MB ... I know first hand how tough it is at this time, and I worked continuously throughout my career. After all this time, my daughter was able to resume her career where she left off and is doing better than before. It took a lot of perserverance and a lot of mailing out resumes. Jobs are far and in between. The OWS is out there protesting and complaining about no jobs to be had but nobody who can make a difference is listening.
Again, the same old same old, the government shuts these people out. They go one with business as usual as if it is common place to have so much unemployment and no jobs. Mr. Obama was on the Jay Leno Show talking and chatting about realty shows, and he says he doesn't watch them. I find that hard to believe. I know for sure his wife watches DWTS. Nobody wants to just find something. They want what they worked for and trained for and are educated for. They want their lives back to normal.

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Cully Waggoner

6 months ago: Unemployment is the single biggest problem. If people have jobs they spend money, if people spend money the economy gets better, it's that simple. The hard part is reversing what caused our jobs to disappear to China and India in the first place. To fix it, Congress will have to put some regulations back in place the 1%'ers on Wall Street and Corporate America will not like. So the 1%'ers will buy whatever politician that will not vote for those new Bills and they won't pass and the problem will not be fixed.

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Altruist
Eugene, OR

6 months ago: Good Post! It is absolutely true that jobs are the # 1 concern and rightly so because jobs determine the health of the economy and everything else. If more people are working government shrinks and the deficit goes down because there are less people dependent on government services.

One would think that Republicans would be all over this issue. They promised that jobs would be their number one issue when campaigning for the 2010 election, and they won on that issue. Yet they have not produced one job bill and all of their policies have cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

On the other hand Democrats have been focused on jobs ever since Obama got in but have been thwarted by the Republicans at every turn.

Obama has a good job program using policies and programs that the GOP has supported before that independents say would produce millions of jobs. Jan Schakowsky has a great jobs plan that would target the chronically unemployed and create 2.1 million jobs, the Congressional Black Caucus has produced 40 different jobs bills. The Republicans have killed all of them.

The Republicans are intentionally preventing the economy from recovering because their number one priority is to harm Obama, and if they have to harm the nation and hundreds of millions of Americans to do it they will.

I think they are unpatriotic bullies that use terrorist tactics to get their way. They should be ashamed of themselves for not doing their jobs and what is best for the country.

Fortunately Obama is finding ways to go around the obstructionism of the Republicans and helping those who need it. He is bringing the troops home and helping vets get jobs, he has made it easier for homeowners with mortgages that are under water to keep their homes, and he has made it easier for students to pay for their loans and to go to school.

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sunny2

6 months ago: How come there is so much of a fight to get back what is deserving. I think it goes far beyond Obama's presidency because the Republicans have been getting everything they want anyway. If we have a Republican President, what then?

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Altruist
Eugene, OR

6 months ago: The Republicans got everything they wanted before Obama. They started two wars, took the budget which had a $250 billion surplus predicted indefinitely and turned that into huge deficits, doubling the national Debt, by giving all the money to the rich. They completely destroyed the economy and caused a worldwide recession, and lost 8 million jobs.

Obama was at least able to prevent a depression and has slowly brought back 3 million jobs despite the obstructionism of the Republicans who want to reinstate the same exact economic policies that destroyed the economy before.

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UnemployedinMI
Allegan, MI

6 months ago: What's especially difficult is when you're unemployed long-term, because employers don't value workers that haven't had a job in a long time. They think we're slackers! And in a state like California (it's even worse in LA County - http://lacountyunemployment.com - over 12% unemployment), it's terrible...we're all looking for work, looking for the same jobs, and preference is always given to those that are currently employed, or, at the very least, have been unemployed for a short time. With a maximum of 99 weeks of unemployment benefits (and that's if you qualify for the full time, which definitely doesn't apply to everyone), it gets really bad if you lose the last of your benefits. No one wants to hire you, and you're getting no help from the government. Obama wants to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against us, and the Republicans won't even pass that law! They're so eager to make sure that the president doesn't get anything helpful passed as a law, that they are willing to sacrifice the good of Americans. If I was able to get a job, though, then I'd buy so many more products, and help keep others in their jobs as a result!

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sunny2

6 months ago: We went through all of that and it seemed that it would never end. If you are able to take a job that is less than what you know, sometimes you can learn new things. You can be in the same field but start over at less money. In smaller companies, you can learn a lot at ground level.
When this legislation comes to the table to prevent people from discriminating against the 99ers, it will be ignored again. Someone I know took a job, anything at all to just get by which was only part time. Then they found a small job in their field. That new knowledge after about 8 months enabled them to get a very good job. They were a 99er. These companies take your resume, and if it doesn't have certain words on it that match their job description, it is shredded, and you never hear from them. Try doing some consulting work if you can. You are considered self-employed, and you can fill your resume up with active work.

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