...One is called the payroll survey. (click here) It asks mostly large companies and government agencies how many people they employed during the month. This survey produces the number of jobs gained or lost. In December, the payroll survey showed that companies and government agencies added 113,000 jobs.
The other is the household survey. Government workers ask whether the adults in a household have a job. Those who don’t have a job are asked whether they’re looking for one. If they are, they’re considered unemployed. If they aren’t looking for a job, they’re not considered part of the workforce and aren’t counted as unemployed. The household survey produces each month’s unemployment rate.
Unlike the payroll survey, the household survey captures farm workers, the self-employed and people who work for new companies. It also does a better job of capturing hiring by small businesses....
We know small businesses have not only recovered to pre-2008 levels, but, they are growing. Our local economies are doing well. We know that. I do believe this survey reflects the success of our small businesses and their growth. The growth of small businesses and local economies may not compliment Wall Street. I think we are seeing a real growth in the USA, but, in a non-traditional way.
This doesn't let Congress off the hook for those still unemployed without benefits that are now losing their homes.
As a matter of fact, if there is a profound change in the USA economy and it's growth, the people who were traditionally employed are going to need a lot of help. They are going to need their unemployment benefits as well as training toward jobs known to exist.
In 2008 we witnessed not only the loss of housing value, but, huge losses in construction jobs. We came to realize with #Occupy Wall Street there was an entire generation of Americans abandoned to their promise of a life they worked hard to prepare for. They were left without hope of jobs. So, as Americans came to grips with the reality of what 'somewhat covertly' happened to their country, including the abandonment by Wall Street to loans to small businesses, they set themselves on a path to correct the course of the country.
It is now over five years later and the path Americans FOUND to be successful for themselves and THEIR VALUES is becoming known. All their efforts are becoming a measurable aspect to the jobs market and/or an enterprise of their own.
With a change in the path of the country and it's growing economy and as Wall Street sheds jobs for whatever reason they do, there are new people becoming unemployed without a clue as to how they are going to solve their plight. Many, given the state of poverty in the USA and the Working Poor, won't have resources to even find a new path for their work life.
I sincerely believe we are in a new territory and President Obama probably understands it better than anyone since he and his team of advisors has overseen the recovery during all those years of new economic growth.
