Let’s cheer the fact that 243,000 Americans went back to work last month. But let us not forget that 1.57 million Americans dropped out of the labor force last month. And that’s why the unemployment rate dipped to 8.3 percent. Since its start, UCubed has been consistent in how we count the jobless. Unemployed, plus [...]

Yesterday, the White House detailed its new Veterans Jobs Corps that will put 20,000 vets to work over the next five years. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki described it as a “bold new effort” to lower the unemployment rate for veterans.  And Interior Secretary Ken Salazar suggested that the program – aimed at preserving [...]

By Heidi Shierholz | February 1, 2012 Congress is debating whether to renew legislation that extended unemployment insurance benefits for the long-term unemployed for up to 99 weeks (providing 73 weeks of federal benefits beyond the regular 26 weeks of state-financed benefits in most states). A good benchmark for testing whether this is a good [...]

During his State of the Union address, President Obama presented many ideas for kick-starting job growth. They included large-scale job training programs, “insourcing” positions that have been shipped overseas, and tax breaks for companies that keep their operations here at home. It’s vital that Congress and the White House actually follow through on these proposals. [...]

Dear UCubed Leader: ZERO is how many times the words “jobless” or “unemployed” were used in the 2012 State of the Union Speech. ZERO is the number of times those words were used in the 2011 State of the Union Speech. So how many voters will turn out from “unemployed” households in November, households where someone [...]

The Washington Post estimates President Obama devoted nearly half of his third State of the Union address to the economy. But while much was said about jobs, workers, business taxes, and energy, two words were never used – the words were “jobless” and “unemployed.” “President Obama’s rallying cry for a national commitment to re-train 2 [...]

A recent cartoon in the New York Times joked that “outnumbering the populations of 46 states, the nation’s … unemployed are trying to form a state of their own.” There’s a serious point to be made here. The unemployed and underemployed are one of the most influential and powerful voting blocs in the country. And [...]

Washington, D.C., January 23, 2012 – International Association of Machinists (IAM) President Tom Buffenbarger, speaking at the Labor Summit sponsored by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA), urged a renewed focus on a 21st Century Works Progress Administration (WPA). “Between 1935 and 1938, over 9.7 million jobless Americans received WPA pay checks,” said Buffenbarger. “The WPA [...]

Dear UCubed Leader: As you may know, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) has underwritten the phenomenal growth of UCubed. The IAM has assigned staff, funded our Facebook campaigns and paid for our TV ads. And for much of the last year, GOP politicians created a cottage industry attacking the IAM in [...]

For a jobless, struggling South Carolina man, reality isn’t a political debate by Eli Saslow, January 18, 2012, The Washington Post CONWAY, S.C. — He awoke to his alarm on Monday morning at 6, just like always, even though his handwritten schedule for the day read only: “Find something to do!” Steven Murdock, 39, poured [...]