Unemployment Conversations-Are They Right

The unemployment conversations tend to focus on older workers, duration of unemployment, and professions. But are they right? The unemployment numbers for December 2011 have been crunched and published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. While the results are unremarkable in that they confirm that unemployment is still too high, hovering around 8.5%, drilling down reveals a different unemployment conversation than is currently circling the Internet.

When looking at the unemployment percentages by age group, those ages 25-34 are the highest group of unemployed at 24.4%. The unemployed workers 55 and over constitute 14.7% of the unemployed, with the remaining age groups 20-24, 35-44, and 45-54 hovering at 17%. This changes the conversation in terms of "older workers" that range from 40 and over to 55 and over depending on what you read. This suggests that employers are actually more receptive to "older" workers than the hype would have us believe.

There is concern over the recent revelations that employers are considering those who have been unemployed for more than six months undesirable. Unfortunately, the report does not present a breakdown by age for the duration of unemployment. What the report shows is that 44.5% of those actively collecting unemployment have been active for 27 or more weeks.

The highest areas of unemployment are construction at 16%, professional and business services at 9.3%, and leisure and hospitality at 10.8%. The lowest areas of unemployment are government workers at 4.1%, education and health services at 5.5%, financial services at 5.6% and mining at 6.9%.

The percentages are based on the number of unemployed persons as of December 2011. This number adjusts for those not actively seeking work and those who are institutionalized. The remaining unemployed population is 13,097,000. Of this number, the greatest population of unemployed is the age group 25-34. Over the flip side, of the 140,681,000 employed in the labor force the highest percentage of employment is seen in the 45-54 age group.

The conversations can change towards older workers that are the largest percentage of the employed work force and have lower unemployment ratios than their younger counterparts. Long-term unemployment is a chronic condition at this stage in the economy not limited to age. Education and health are indeed fields to explore. The unemployment in construction is a real key for economic growth.

Bureau of Labor Statistics-The Employment Situation December 2011