hi jeff..
i've posted a couple of articles that indicate unemployment numbers are understated...
using the laid off IT worker example...putting in 2 days a week at $7.75hr. at radio shack (previously drawing 6 figure salary), makes him "employed".
plus once the benefits expire there is no way of tracking them.
this article is a bit more informative on the longshoreman lockout..
biz.yahoo.com
Officials at the ILWU, which represents 10,500 dock workers, have denied organizing work slowdowns, saying cargo is moving slowly due to increased volume ahead of the U.S. holiday season.
But port employers say they saw clear signs of intentional work slowdowns on Sunday, accusing union workers of dragging their feet in moving cargo, causing ships to miss their sail times, disrupting rail schedules and leaving valuable goods stranded on the docks.
"We simply cannot allow that kind of chaos to continue," a PMA spokesman said on Monday.
The White House said it was watching the dispute carefully with an eye on the struggling U.S. economy.
"If it goes on for even a short period of time, it's a problem for the economy. We're monitoring it carefully," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Monday.
The PMA has estimated that each day of port closure costs the U.S. economy as much as $1 billion as Asian imports fail to reach U.S. store shelves and U.S. shipments of foodstuffs and other products pile up in cargo storage facilities. |
