I have been in contact with Alexandra occasionally throughout her long-term unemployment and her struggles to find work and a place to call home. She seemed to be turning a corner and getting back on her feet. Sadly, she has run into a major roadblock that could derail her recent successes. Alexandra and her good friend and 99er supporter, Kian Frederick, wrote the following letter that I am posting here.

by Kian Frederick and Alexandra Jarrin

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Originally posted on flashmobs4jobs.org

With small improvements in job creation over the past few months many are hopeful that the economy is on the mend, however slowly. No group of people are more hopeful than the long-term unemployed. This is especially true of the “99ers”, former working and middle class, skilled and professional labor, and middle management folks who were laid off and exhausted their unemployment insurance before they could find a job during this crisis.

This hope, however, is dimmed by a perverse Catch-22: what happens if, now that a glimmer of hope for work may be emerging, some people won’t be able to get to a new job, even if they are offered one? For those living in small towns and rural areas, a car is a lifeline, without which many will not be able to return to the work force, despite more jobs being created and their desperation for work. Since most laid off people had good jobs and credit while they were working, they qualified for and received car loans from major banks. Now, after struggling through such hard times, many have had their cars repossessed (and credit ruined), because they couldn’t make the payments. Safety net programs don’t cover an emergency car payment and with every charity stretched to its last, scarce dollar, cars are considered a luxury, not a necessity. It’s also no surprise that the bailed out banks who hold these loans could care less.

Here is one example of the Catch-22 many now face. You might remember Alexandra Jarrin, the mother of three and former executive who was laid off in 2008 and eventually became a “99er”. After losing everything, she ended up homeless. An August, 2010, New York Times article about Alexandras’ plight was one of the first to bring national attention to the explosion of 99ers, and CNN has covered some of her efforts to get help for the foreclosed and forgotten. Like so many, in recent years Alex has fought back, scraped and struggled to reclaim her life. Now, however, she could lose everything because Chase bank repossessed her car, which she bought a few months before her 2008 lay-off, financing the purchase with a loan from Chase. Here’s what happened:

Alexandra Jarrin:

“Last September, I finally found a job and, a few months later, I was able to rent a small apartment. I took the first job that was offered to me, selling cable subscriptions door to door at 100% commission. It’s wasn’t great, but of course I grabbed it while continuing to look for a job in my field. It was difficult; I’m not a sales person, but I was out there knocking on doors, happy to have a way to support myself. I also finally found a place to live! After everything over the past few years, I honestly felt some hope for the first time”.

“As I was waiting to move in, I came down with pneumonia. At first, I didn’t know what it was and continued to trudge through the Vermont cold knocking on doors. Finally, I was forced to go to the doctor and learned it was pneumonia. I thought, well, I can’t stop now! I was ready to move into my new apartment and nothing was going to defeat me. I had vowed I would never, ever, become homeless again.”

“Soon after I moved in, sales slowed. I kept knocking, but sales were scarce. I was finding most people where not interested in changing what they had for services, or they were dealing with financial issues just like me. Still, I kept knocking, and even with sales slowing down, I managed to pay my rent, but fell behind in my car payments”.

At the same time, I was finally scheduled for needed parathyroid surgery that had been delayed for months because of the difficulties in finding a surgeon and hospital that took my health insurance. Between the pneumonia and the scheduling of my surgery, the doctors required that I not be out in the cold, wet weather knocking on doors. They were concerned about other illnesses I could get that would prevent the surgery and worsen my pneumonia”.

“I tried to find ways to keep selling cable. Calling people I had met or that other people had given me as leads, but sales continued to drop. There really is no other way to get to people but by knocking on their doors”.

“After struggling through all these hard years to keep up with my car payments, I’ve now fallen three months behind. I’ve called Chase what seems like a thousand times, beginning before I was delinquent, and begged them to renegotiate or somehow lower my payments; anything to help me through this, but they refused. They just didn’t care. We have to bail them out because they are “too big to fail”, but I guess they don’t have to do anything for us because we’re “too small to matter”.

“Finally, they came and took my car last Saturday morning. This has happened at the worst possible time. Jobs are starting to open up and I was starting to have conversations with HR personnel regarding positions in my field. I even started to have some interviews. I am so close to a solid step in reclaiming my life, or building a new life, this is a cruel punch in the gut!”.

“Now, I am stranded without any way to work my cable job, get to interviews or in to town. I live on the outskirts of a small town in Southern Vermont. The walk is way too long to get into town and there is no public transportation where I live. There is no one to ask for rides, no cars to borrow. Losing my car completely isolates me from everything and everyone, but the hardest part is that I can’t work”.

“I had stellar credit, for years, when I was working; in my “before” life. Now, all that’s gone and my options are very limited. Before, I always paid my bills on time and maintained my credit. I believe in meeting my responsibilities. I want to pay off my car loan; walking away is just not an option. Even in the darkest days, when I was homeless, I always, somehow, made my car payments because, yes, I needed the car, but it was also a source of pride for me. I was able to hold my head up about one thing, at least”.

“I have a very limited amount of time to get my car back, about a week. Chase has told me they will put it up for auction on or about March 26th, just after my 51st birthday, unless I come up with $2500. Might as well be $25 million, really”. Before the repossession I owed three payments in total, approximately $1100.00 including a small fee for being late. Now, I have to pay all the late payments, the late fees, one additional payment for April and the repossession fee. They also added on top of everything else a $25.00 miscellaneous fee that no one can explain. Chase told me to stay in touch with them so they can tell me what the total is as they get updates from the repossession company. “Oh my word, how much more can they add to it?”

“Throughout the hard times, I’ve borrowed from every friend I know and have literally been blessed by kindness of strangers. I have searched everywhere but there is no emergency hardship funding for car payments, despite how crucial having a car is for those of us who do not live in big cities. And, since my credit is shot because of everything else, no bank will give me a loan”.

“After everything, it’s so devastating to be so, so close and have it all taken away so fast, once again. I finally have a roof over my head and prospects for a real job are looking very good, but without a car it all means nothing”.

“It is awful to ask for help. I think most people want to rely on themselves; I know I do. But, asking for help is what I’m doing. I refuse to believe that I’m done; that all that’s left for me is a return to homelessness and hunger. Others are worse off than me, I know, and everyone is struggling. There is nothing special about me. I’m just one person who has almost made it through and I’m asking anyone who can: Please consider helping me raise the $2500 I need before March 24th to reclaim my car, and my life. Thank you, Thank you, from the bottom of my heart”.

If you wish to help Alex, or to contact her, you can do both at ajinvermont@gmail.com.

Your kindness may not be tax deductible, but it is deeply appreciated. Thank you.

Kian Frederick can be contacted at kian@flashmobs4jobs.org

Please contact Alexandra and Kian for further details on how you may be able to help.

While the jobs numbers for the short- and long-term unemployed seem to be improving very slowly, the long-term unemployed are still suffering a jobs depression, historically. Currently, nearly two million workers have been out of work for more than 99 weeks and according to a recent GAO report an estimated 5.5 million have exhausted all UI benefits.

Chase bank should try and assist the struggling long-term unemployed instead of crushing the financial hopes of people like Alexandra Jarrin. The American public bailed-out these giant, corrupt banks with trillions of taxpayer dollars, but these same bailed-out banks act in the same deplorable ways that financially harm so many. It’s time the banks to help the people, since the banks were given everything they wanted and more.

This is not the time to abandon the long-term unemployed; it’s the time to help them. While a million Americans may have found jobs over the past year, more than five million long-term unemployed, including Alexandra Jarrin, have not been so fortunate.

The GOP is back threatening unemployed again, but this time they are also dragging along 160 million working Americans who would benefit from a continuation of a payroll tax reduction. Fortunately, the GOP is playing a much weaker hand this year and may have to fold to the pressures of the American electorate who not only want a payroll tax extension, but also want unemployment benefits extended.

Republicans won’t go quietly into the night without further disparaging the unemployed. Their version of the unemployment extension would promote drug testing the unemployed and it would cut benefit maximums to 79 weeks and then 59 weeks during the summer of 2012.

According to an Arthur Delaney article at Huffington Post, “What evidence do Republicans have that drug use is a problem among the unemployed? None that they’ve been willing to share. Ask a Republican politician’s staff for additional information on his or her anecdote about the stoned jobless, and they’ll tell you it’s just something they hear about all the time back in their districts, and you have to take their word for it.”

While there are anecdotal reports of drug use among some job seekers, there is no qualitative reason to believe that a large majority of unemployed are guilty of taking illegal drugs. Why didn’t any of these congressional puritans drug test the failed bank and corporate executives that they handed trillions of taxpayer dollars without any strings attached? The GOP must believe that the wealthy and connected are angels that are beyond temptation while the poor and financially strapped job seekers are devilish drug abusers.

While drug testing all unemployed is a lousy and expensive idea that should be abandoned immediately, it’s the fact that Republicans want to dramatically cut back on the maximum number of weeks that the unemployed can collect benefits in the face of an economy that still isn’t creating the jobs needed to employ millions of unemployed is appalling.

In an article from The Hill today, “Levin’s support for the two-month deal comes amid his concerns that some states, including his home state of Michigan, would lose upward of 20 weeks of federal extended benefits under the Senate’s short-term bill within the first few months of the year because it doesn’t include a provision to ensure they remain in place.“

So regardless of which bill passes – if a bill passes – some long-term unemployed in some states will lose benefits starting the beginning of 2012. Both parties have their hand in the unemployment cutback plan.

Benefits could be cut by as many as 20 weeks next year — in line with a 20-week cut mentioned by President Obama in his jobs bill, supporters have said.

A House-passed Republican plan called for cutting total benefits to79 weeks in January and eventually drop them to a maximum of 59 weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of unemployed will be affected by reduced weeks of benefits. While cutting the maximum number of weeks makes sense during a jobs expansion, that isn’t the case at this point and a recent Gallup poll confirms that point, “Underemployment, a measure that combines the percentage of workers who are unemployed with the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work, is 18.4% in mid-December, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment. This is up slightly from 18.1% at the end of November and similar to the 18.5% of a year ago.”

It’s no wonder that Congress has a record low approval rating,“A new record-low 11% of Americans approve of the job Congress is doing, the lowest single rating in Gallup’s history of asking this question since 1974.” That rating is probably 10% too high, but it shows just how disenchanted Americans of all political stripes are with the political class.

Although the unemployed as a whole are being used as political pawns, they at least have the attentions of politicians and a nation looking for answers. Yet there is one group of unemployed that has been completely ignored of late, the unemployed who have exhausted all benefits – the 99ers. Over the past two years, millions of 99ers have not collected unemployment benefits or a paycheck. A recent Google search of news stories about 99ers produced this simple statement from the OC Register when discussing recent unemployment legislation, “There would be no additional benefits for the so-called 99ers, who have exhausted their 99 weeks.”

Congress and the president have purposely ignored the millions of 99ers for political reasons. Politicians such as Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and others who once pushed for 99er legislation have grown silent on the issue. And now it appears that the new 99ers will now be 79ers and possibly 59ers in the near future.

The fact remains that when you consider all under and unemployed, there are about 10 job seekers for each available full-time job opening. That is not a jobs situation that is the fault of the under and unemployed. It’s a situation where there are not enough jobs for those who want jobs.

The unemployed cannot depend on their elected representatives to act in their best interests, but they can depend on those same elected representatives continued criticism, belittlement and disregard. Let’s hope that Congress quickly comes to their senses and passes comprehensive legislation that doesn’t punish the unemployed.  Can Congress rise above it’s partisan bickering this holiday season of giving? Time will tell, but that time is short.

Happy holidays from the GOP! Mike Lukovich @gocomics.com

The  ‘VOW to Hire Heros Act’ “Would provide veterans with comprehensive transition assistance, ranging from resume writing to an extra year of training for high-demand fields like technology and trucking. In addition, companies would get up to $5,600 in tax credits for each veteran hired, and up to $9,600 for a disabled veteran, as long as he or she has been job hunting for at least six months.”

Certainly it’s important to help veterans transition to a job when they return home from active duty, but wouldn’t it be appropriate for Congress to find funding for this bill in another area besides the elimination of a fee reduction that would have helped other veterans? Yes, apparently Congress believes that veterans should be the ones paying for a veteran’s jobs bill:

“To cover the cost of the veteran jobs package, Murray and Miller agreed to a provision that will keep in place higher VA loan guarantee fees for veterans who re-use home loan benefits a second time or more. The higher fees, set in 2003, were to expire but will be extended through 2016.”

“The tax breaks and jobs programs for veterans would cost just over $1 billion, and would be paid for by extending a fee the Veterans Affairs Department charges to back home loans.”

The ‘VOW to Hire Heros Act’ also contains some other jobs related benefits and will likely help some long-term unemployed vets find some much needed work, but other veterans fees will not be reduced and corporations will benefit by receiving a hefty tax credit. In essence, veterans are paying corporations to hire them.

Would it have been possible for Congress to impose a fee on hedge funds to pay for this veteran’s jobs bill? Could tobacco farming subsidies been cut to pay for this bill? Maybe the oil companies could have been forced to pay minimally higher tax for deep water drilling permits. A surcharge on executive bonuses on banks that received taxpayer bailouts may have been appropriate. No, that would have been too divisive, since the GOP would rather see jobless than higher fees and taxes and Democrats don’t want to anger their large campaign contributors with additional charges. No, both parties agreed that veterans should pay corporations to help veterans land jobs.

This type of legislation where cuts are made in programs helping the poor and middle class is nothing new. Last year Congress cut planned food stamp benefit increases to fund another jobs bill, “Congress decided to pay for part of a $26 billion jobs bill by cutting future food stamp benefits.”

And this year Democrats are proposing cutting Medicare to the tune of $400 billion as a sweetener to see if the GOP will raise some taxes. As Thom Hartmann offers, “Why on earth would Democrats put their second-most prized creation on the table for sacrifice – when everyone knows Republicans aren’t going to compromise on raising taxes on millionaires and billionaires no matter what Democrats offer up? Have Democrats not learned their lesson yet?” It’s obvious that Democrats have not learned their lessons and feel it’s easier to chop social programs than to reduce unbridled defense spending, corporate welfare and demand that corporations pay taxes on trillions in off-shored profits.

In fact, the current veteran’s jobs bill contains an elimination of a proposed withholding tax, “Erasing the withholding requirement for contractors would reduce federal revenues by an estimated $11.2 billion over the coming decade. It would be paid for by making it harder for some elderly people to qualify for Medicaid by changing the formula used to determine their eligibility.” The result is that contractors benefit at the expense of the elderly.

If both parties in Congress can agree on one thing it’s that it’s easier to cut benefits for the poor and middle class, and veterans in the case of ‘VOW to Hire Heros Act’, than to place any burden on the mega-wealthy, the connected class, or large highly profitable corporations. It’s not surprising that Occupy Wall Street protests across the nation have taken the argument for economic justice to the streets, since economic justice is not being found in the halls of Congress.

Please take the time to read and sign the following petition. 5000 signatures are required for this petition to receive the attention of the White House. Your signature will go a long way to helping out millions of long-term unemployed. Click on this link to view the petition.

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Extend unemployment benefits past 99 weeks for ALL long-term unemployed Americans – for the 99ers and ANY “exhaustee”

Very soon an estimated 10 million Americans and their families will have exhausted all 99 weeks of their unemployment insurance benefits (or whatever their State’s maximum qualifying weeks were). Please extend these benefits past 99 weeks for ALL long-term unemployed Americans, especially for the “99ers” and any “exhaustee”, until there are enough jobs available. Because of age or physical imitations, many can not be expected to pick up a shovel. Many have already been without any income at all for a year or longer and barely subsist on food stamps. The 99ers and “exhaustees” can no longer wait for 14 million jobs to gradually come online over a protracted period of time. We’ve waited as long as we could.

http://bud-meyers.blogspot.com/2011/09/official-white-house-petition-for-99ers.html

That is only a small part of the jobs-hole story, a story that is often ignored, overlooked and oversimplified by mass media.

The media has failed to present the unemployment problem, with all its associated economically devastating consequences, in the manner it deserves. It’s possible that unemployment facts and figures don’t translate well for advertisers, or they are too cumbersome to present in a two-minute segment. Whatever the reason, the mass media seem to avoid unemployment details as they would avoid describing and filming fresh road kill during a dinnertime newscast. While some excellent blogs clearly explain unemployment data, such as Mish’s Economic Trend Analysis, Calculated Risk andEconomic Populist, mass media sites are absent.

The unemployment rate remained at 9.1 percent for August. Unemployment to the mass media generally centers on that single point within the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly employment report. There is passing mention of discouraged workers and the underemployed, but the true scale of the jobs crisis is given scant attention considering the magnitude of the problem.

What follows are 11 unemployment details that mass media underreports or ignores completely. This list will not be recalled fondly as a top-10 list of best quarterbacks or favorite vacation retreats would, but it’s where the REAL unemployment crisis is exposed.

1. The jobs deficit: That is the total number of jobs lost PLUS jobs that should have been created since the recession began in December 2007; as mentioned above, there are 6.9 million fewer jobs today than at the start of the Great Recession, but that tells only half the tale of the jobs deficit. There is also the matter of creating jobs to keep up with the increase in workforce population. Those new workers include high school and college graduates, and immigrants. The number of jobs that need to be created each month to accommodate new entrants into the workforce ranges from 120,000 – 150,000. Adding together the jobs lost since the recession and the new jobs needed for population growth, the total jobs deficit is estimated to be 11.3 million. A few tax breaks, some targeted workforce retraining and some regulatory relief for businesses are not going to be the forces behind the creation of more than 11 million jobs. A massive effort is required to fill that gaping jobs hole.

2. Filling the jobs deficit: According to EPI: “To fill that gap in three years — by mid-2014 — while still keeping up with the growth in the working-age population — would require adding around 400,000 jobs every single month. To fill the gap in five years — by mid-2016 — would mean adding 280,000 jobs each month. By comparison, over the last three months, the economy added just 35,000 jobs, on average.”

It’s striking that the economy has created only 105,000 jobs during the past three months. When considering only the new entrants to the workforce, such as recent college graduates, that three-month span produced a shortage of 270,000 or more jobs.

3. The Birth/Death Model: This is not births and deaths of people, but of businesses. The BLS estimates how many jobs were created or lost by business formations or closings. In August, the BLS estimated that 87,000 jobs were created by new businesses.

This is an often discussed employment barometer at many economy centered blogs, but mass media pays it meager attention. Why is that so? It’s a complicated model that can make the head spin of even the most astute employment expert. But there appears to be agreement that the model has a tendency to misread the economic cycle, as Calculated Risk points out, “A few years ago several people — myself included — pointed out that the birth/death model would miss turning points in employment. I thought the model would overstate the number of jobs added as the economy slid into recession (and understate the number of jobs lost monthly during a recession). Sure enough that is what the annual benchmark revision showed during the employment recession.”

To illustrate just how wide this model can be off the jobs mark, Bloomberg shows that 824,000 jobs “disappeared” after a birth/death model adjustment in February 2010. That adjustment is important because if it was known that job creation was weaker by 824,000 jobs during 2009, additional job creation efforts could have been considered. At present job creation is stagnant and we won’t know what role the birth/death model has on today’s job numbers until 2012. But if history is any guide, job creation may again be overstated.

4. JOLTS (Job Openings Labor Turnover Survey): This monthly BLS report gives an indication of the number of available jobs. On the occasion that it is mentioned by the media, it offers only a sliver of the issue, such as the number of unemployed per job opening, which stands currently at 4.3.

From the BLS, “The number of job openings in July was 3.2 million, little changed from June. Although the number of job openings remained below the 4.4 million openings when the recession began in December 2007, the level in July was 1.1 million openings higher than in July 2009 (the most recent trough). ”

What is missing from that JOLTS report? Plenty. First, the 4.3 unemployed per job opening is limited to the 14 million U3 unemployed (the 9.1 percent). But those aren’t the only unemployed wanting a full-time job. There are the 2.6 million marginally attached workers, 8.8 million underemployed (those who want full-time work, but are working part-time). I’m not going to include the 3.9 million non-unemployed unemployed (explained later). When those 11.4 million workers are included with the 14 million U3 unemployed, there are 25.4 million workers and 3.2 million jobs, or 8 unemployed or underemployed workers per job opening.

The second issue with JOLTS is that it doesn’t distinguish whether the available jobs are full-time or part-time. According to a BLS representative “Part-time jobs are included in our job openings counts; however, we do not distinguish between full and part-time positions. We only ask if the position exists, not which type of position it is.”

It’s important to know how many job openings are part-time, since part-time jobs usually pay less and offer fewer, if any, benefits. Extrapolating from the BLS “Employed persons by class of worker and part-time status” data, there are 139,627,000 employed workers, of which 27,034,000 are part-timers. More than 19 percent of all workers work part-time. If nearly 20 percent of all available job openings are part-time, there are only 2.56 million full-time jobs for 25.4 million unemployed and underemployed who want full-time work, or 10 workers for each available full-time position; more than double the 4.3 workers per job opening touted by most media outlets.

5. The participation rate: Is, according to the BLS, “The labor force as a percent of the civilian noninstitutional population.” Or, more simply, the percentage of the working-age population that is working or is actively looking for a job. The participation rate rose 0.1 percent in August to 64 percent, which is slightly above the 27-year low recorded in July of 63.9 percent.

If more jobs were available would there be more participation? More than likely that would be the case. The mass media very seldom mentions this point, but the participation rate shows the potential number of people waiting on the sidelines for the job market to improve before they jump back in.

A couple of striking graphs of the historical participation rate can be seen at ZeroHedge and BLS.

6. Marginally attached workers: From the BLS, “These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.” I know, it’s not an easily digested description, but it’s a population of unemployed that want to work, but for various reasons have not looked for work recently. Currently 2.6 million workers are considered marginally attached. If they are included in the unemployment rate, that rate increases from 9.1 percent to 10.6 percent.

7. The underemployed: Who are the underemployed? “The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers). These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job,” states the BLS.

The August employment report indicated that underemployment increased from July by 400,000 to 8.8 million. Part-time jobs range in hours from one to 34, any job of more than 34 hours is considered full-time work. That might not be the case in the real world where a full-time job is considered 40 hours, but that is the case according to the BLS.

While some believe that part-time jobs eventually translate into full-time jobs, that hasn’t been the case during this recession, as the linked graph from Calculated Risk illustrates. From 2000 to 2008, the number of underemployed ranged between 3 and 4 million. There are currently 4 million more unemployed than at the start of the recession. Businesses would need to see a dramatic uptick in business to place 4 million more part-timers into full-time slots.

The “real” unemployment rate increases to 16.2 percent when the underemployed and marginally attached workers are considered.

8. The not-unemployed unemployed: Yes, there is a point at which the BLS stops considering an unemployed person unemployed. That point is reached when an unemployed person has not looked for a job in the previous 12 months. When asked, the BLS replied, “The 3.9 million individuals not in the labor force that you are referring to responded that they wanted a job, but had not looked for a job in the last 12 months. They are not considered unemployed because they had not actively searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey.” I recall no mention of these 3.9 million from any mass media outlet.

This 3.9 million are the most discouraged of discouraged workers, but if the jobs market was improving, these millions would start to become part of the unemployed once more. If these 3.9 million were added to the “real” unemployment rate (U6) the rate would increase from 16.2 percent to 19 percent. Nearly one in five American workers is either unemployed or underemployed. Why isn’t that disturbing fact in the media spotlight every day?

9. The long-term unemployed: These 6.0 million are the jobless who have been looking for work for 6 months or more (this does not include the not-unemployed unemployed). Long-term unemployment receives occasional mass media recognition, but it scratches only the surface. There are subsets of the long-term unemployed that show the depth of the problem more clearly. The 6.0 million long-term unemployed represent 43.1 percent of all unemployed. Of that 6 million, 4.458 million have been jobless for 52 or more weeks and within that group 2.040 million, a record high, have been unemployed for 99 weeks or more (not to be confused with the “99ers” explained below). Even more startling than those numbers is the lack of response by lawmakers.

10. 99ers: These long-term unemployed have exhausted all unemployment benefits (not all unemployed collect unemployment benefits). The name “99ers” comes from the fact that some collected benefits for up to 99 weeks. It’s a misnomer in the sense that only about 25 states are eligible for the 99 week maximum; many unemployed exhausted benefits in as little as 60 weeks.

Official statistics are not kept for this unemployed population. When Mish Shedlock of Global Economics Trend Analysis was asked about the 99ers population, he contacted Tim Wallace. Wallace has been digging into long-term unemployment data to try and weed out the number of unemployed who have exhausted all unemployment benefits. His most recent efforts show that, “we can safely assume that 3,058,152 people have exhausted all benefits — they are no longer covered on either sets of (unemployment) rolls.” But it doesn’t end there, using some additional Department of Labor data Wallace pries out another 2.0 million 99ers, for a combined 5.1 million.

Other 99ers estimates range from 1.5 to 5.0 million, but as the linked graph at Here come the ’99ers at Calculated Risk illustrates; the number of unemployed that are exhausting unemployment benefits is rapidly increasing.

While there may be disagreement about the total population of 99ers, Wallace concludes, “There is absolutely NO EXCUSE for this to not be a readily accessible piece of data daily. After all, Walmart can tell you how many strawberry Pop Tarts they sold yesterday.” There is also no excuse for the mass media ignoring this vast unemployed population and not taking agencies to task for not reporting accurate 99ers data.

Millions of additional unemployed will become 99ers immediately unless extended unemployment benefits are renewed in December. A worker laid off today will be eligible for only 26 weeks of state benefits unless an extension is approved by a much divided Congress.

How can an economy function when so many are out of work and have exhausted unemployment benefits?

(To view Wallace’s report, go to, How Many Unemployed Have Exhausted All Benefits?)

11. How many unemployed collect unemployment benefits? It may seem reasonable to assume that all 14 million unemployed collect unemployment insurance benefits, but that is not the case. In September 7.17 million unemployed collected benefits, which is only 51 percent of all unemployed (U3, the 9.1 percent).

Surprisingly, on average just one third of all unemployed are eligible for unemployment benefits at the state level (2011 data). As an example, temporary staff, self-employed and recent high school and college graduates may be out of work, but not eligible for benefits. Eligibility rates range from 57 percent in AK and PA to TX at 21 percent. Each state can set its own guidelines regarding eligibility requirements. When someone tells you they are unemployed, it’s more than likely they are not collecting unemployment benefits.

Many pundits and some GOP lawmakers excoriate all unemployed for being lazy and enjoying life on the dole. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)recently said, “People are gaming the system and refusing to take jobs because they get unemployment benefits and food stamps.” That naïve and cruel assessment disparages all unemployed, but it’s particularly insulting to the majority of unemployed who aren’t eligible to collect or have exhausted unemployment benefits. If Sen. DeMint and his ilk want to see where the system is being gamed, he may want to look at Wall Street instead of Main Street.

What message can be taken from this list of realistic and discomforting unemployment figures? The bottom line is that unemployment is much worse than the 9.1 percent unemployment figure pushed by the media and many lawmakers; in fact it’s considerably worse.

Mass media’s inability to communicate the depth of the jobs crisis is one reason the response to it has been primarily weak and ineffectual. If the media mutes the crisis, lawmakers and corporations will continue to act slowly and impotently, forcing millions of American families to suffer needlessly.

Unemployment and jobs creation are national emergencies demanding focused attention with a wide-ranging and rapid response. This American jobs disaster will not vanish if neglected, but what will vanish are the hopes, dreams and financial well-being of millions of hard-working Americans.

This was first published at AlterNet.org.

Tom Toles - GoComics.com

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