Nantucket’s Brant Point Lighthouse

LinkedIn Group Chatter 5

Michael A. – Technology Account Executive and UMass Boston alumnus

I looked and read some of the comments here and reflected for a moment. So much talk about that person is wrong, President Bush was wrong, Wall Street Greed, much amateur rancor. Its one of the things that is currently wrong about the US. When we see a problem we must immediately think of who to blame and then demonize to justify our views.

I was watching the news on several channels tonight. In several segments there I saw Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi demonizing the Republican Tax Plan. This plan was on the agenda since February of 2010 while she was Speaker of the House. The United States is faced with mounting debt, hard choices must be made. But former Speaker Pelosi can think of nothing better than to attempt to vilify and belittle a plan.

You see I believe that the American Dream is about self reliance. It’s about taking responsibility for your actions. When I was growing up having to take Food Stamps and Section 8 Housing were things to be ashamed of. Now it is a badge of courage. We have teenage mothers who have babies for no better purpose than to escape the confines of their home and in turn parental constraints.

I see families who have been on welfare for generations with no inclination to rise above it. This even though they have been afforded that opportunity, but they chose not to take it.

When elected politicians decide that they will circumvent the over riding principles of our laws and moral obligations that is owed to each citizen of this great country in allowing illegal aliens to take full advantage of the system and many times displace a US citizen of their rightful benefit.

You see, I do not believe much of the hype about Wall Street, large homes, corporate profit etc. I believe the American Dream rest with each individual to be the best person, father, mother, son, daughter, uncle, aunt they can be. To rise above the challenges of their everyday lives and make this country what it was and still can be.

LinkedIn Group Chatter 4

Mark O – MD from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and a BS from the University of Alberta

I'm not American except North American i.e. a Cannuck and have for 30+ years followed American domestic and foreign policy and recently the economic decline (actually median wages have stagnated since the 1970s) and am happily surprised to see people waking up and starting to ask this question about the American Dream. Wisconsin is interesting and what about Ohio and the Californian debt?

The only thing I see missing is a statement blaming business for off-shoring and Wall Street for blowing up bubbles like the housing and tech bubble beforehand. All the big economists at the Fed, Academia, writing for newspapers etc. missed it. I didn't because I was reading non-mainstream economist (lefties!). Easy to blame government and it's correct to do so as they are in bed with big business but why no statement saying I blame Big Business? Strange!

As I read about retirees who lost all their pensions (401k's?) and those who lost so much equity in their houses if not outright foreclosed, I feel great pity. Proximity and similar lifestyle (Canada) and desires breeds a certain sense of empathy. Also US consumption if perhaps overdone is a big driving force in much of the world's (export) economies. I suppose there is a lot of hidden shame as people don't like to admit unemployment, foreclosure etc. seeing it as personal failings rather than of the system. That was part of the 'dream': if you worked hard you could make it and if you didn't make it you were lazy or personally deficient

LinkedIn Group Chatter 3

Bob M. – Entrepreneur with an MBA degree from University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School and a BA from Lafayette College

I think some of your facts are wrong.  Over 100 banks have failed.  The unemployment rate reached 10% and then declined only because those who ran out of support - 99 weeks - are no longer counted.  If you add the unemployed and the underemployed the true figure is probably 20-25%.  One out of every six people in this country is experiencing a problem in getting food.  One of every 4 mothers with infants is having a problem affording diapers.

At the same time the situation is not as severe as it was in the Great Depression, when we were still moving from an agricultural society to an industrial one.  The movement today is from an industrial society to a service society, which again calls for dislocation and different skill sets.

LinkedIn Group Chatter 2

Janet L. – Retired with BA degree from University of Massachusetts

You're optimism is showing. I don't think we're ignorant, perhaps naive. And not apathetic, although I do think that as we get older we tend put aside our activist-youth persona and become part of the 'silent majority'.

LinkedIn Group Chatter

Individuals provided comments through LinkedIn groups. Here are some of the LinkedIn comments:

Harry T. – Sales executive with BA degree from University of Maine

The thought that our American Government can decree that the Recession ended some 14 months before their pronouncement is laughable especially with unemployment still near double digits and countries around the world still struggling. How is it that Ireland needed a bailout if the Global Recession ended in 2009?

Title for Book

Book titles are short and punchy. Check out the NY Times Weekly Best Seller list.

What's your idea for a book title?

How does this sound?

Freedom or Wealth. 
Do we really know what the American Dream means to us?

Love to hear your thoughts.

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Question 12

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Question 10

Question 9 Comments

My commission based income dwindled to virtually nothing, although I was still technically employed.

I am self-employed and my revenues are down 45%.  There is no safety net for the self-employed, such as unemployment benefits.  All we have are our savings and the equity in our homes.  Both of mine are depleted.  I will not be able to retire and hope to die young.

There is plenty of work if you are willing to change. There is only the promise of opportunity

I have had various immediate family members unemployed, working part-time jobs (sometimes more than one at a time), or consulting on their own during 2007-2010

As I was forced to close a business, no unemployment benefits were available

We gave up on "employment" after the recession post 9/11 and became self-employed 10 years ago. Been struggling but are making it narrowly, ever since.

You really ought to have some sort of explanation on what you refer to as 'the American dream'. It's a pretty vague concept. Also ask for comments at the end.

Family suffered a significant reduction in income -- although everyone remained employed --- mostly.

I have been out of work for 2 1/2 years despite dozens of interviews

I was involved in Work-Share, a one day a week lay-off / unemployment program

Retired/Self employed

I have been seriously under-employed, though

I became unemployed on 1 January 2008 and received my first decent contract just this month.  I cannot find a salaried position.  I'd just like to add that I have a Ph.D. from an elite, Eastern university minted in 1989, am a prize-winning author, and am reasonably well connected.  I have worked at some of the country's most prestigious institutions (Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UCSF) and still cannot find a job--not a teaching job, mind you, but an administrative position.  Most recently, in September, I had nine (9) separate interviews for a position in the Executive Vice Chancellor's office at UCSF.  Nine interviews, including a meeting with the chancellor herself (with whom I worked 15 years ago at Genentech).  How could I possibly believe in the so-called American Dream?  I thought this was going to be a survey about the DREAM Act, which is why I clicked on it in the first place.

I have been unemployed since November 2008.

I have been technically unemployed since Oct '07, working odd jobs & temp positions since then.

My first unemployment was 2001, along with someone in my immediate family. It has been a financial rollercoaster.

Presently unemployed for over a year and a half

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Question 9

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Question 5

Question 4 Comments

Opportunity - don’t think it is always education, but a determination

It’s the dream that you, too, can get rich.

I think the American Dream is characterized by three promises: progress, access, and redemption. Progress is the promise of unlimited opportunity in a land where there is enough for everybody.  Access is the promise of equal opportunity, in a land where all doors are open to everyone; implicit in this is a promise of safety which allows us freedom of movement and ambition.  Redemption is the promise that gives our struggles meaning. The American Dream pledges that our hard work, our loyalty, and our self discipline in delaying gratification will ultimately be rewarded. Unfortunately, because these promises are built on a socio-structural foundation of inequity, the US is the most economically stratified country in the world.  Our hierarchically-based society, in which acquisition and financial prosperity serve as the symbols of success, require the systemic stifling of someone's growth so that other may advance ahead of them.  These three promises of the American Dream are no more than myths.

It's not about one of these but a combination that equals the American Dream

Opportunities beget more opportunities- share freely!

This is fundamentally an impossible question to answer.  Americans cannot have one of these without the others –

I think "the dream" has been replaced by selfishness and/or is being hoarded by a few at the cost of the many.

Liberty, security and the economic stability to achieve virtually any opportunity through education and hard work, regardless of race, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, physical challenges, or any other challenges or limitations, while respecting our common good, and keeping to the spirit of liberty and JUSTICE for all.

Owning your own home

A blend of these definitions.  It has elements of all these.

This is the only one that addresses all the other, selfish options.

Stability, equal justice administered without corruption and in a manner that motivates constructive risk taking as a method to achieve any citizen’s hierarchy of need while rewarding each effort for measurable social benefit.

Progress: the freedom to overcome challenges and create new visions.

I was torn between Opportunity and Stability

Limited government, but some basic protections for the average citizen

Corporate control

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Question 4

Question 3 Comments

I wrote a paper in 1996 that said that The American Dream, as we define/live it now, will inevitably play itself out this way because it is built on an ideal of social inequity.  The natural result is a "trickle-up" effect of misery.

Yes and no, I still think education is the key to the American  Dream but don't think the dream of making it big is that big

Things are cyclical, people have no memory and are mostly not well read and plan for nothing.

Excessive government spending and over taxation is killing the American Dream

Lost that belief some time ago.

National identities are slowly becoming less relevant, as the Global community grows in connectivity.

Government should not get involved in setting loan limits

The A typical American Dream is a thing of the past.

I think that the American dream was more a myth than a dream.

I never really bought into that concept of owning a house, 2 cars, 2.3 kids and a wallet full of credit cards

Politicians need to take economics classes

Made it more attainable as housing prices decreased.

Not sure I ever believed in it.  Certainly most Americans have at one time or another, but it's not real.  A poll just before the recession showed that most Americans believed they were in the top 20% of earners, which is impossible, but it's what makes people so anti-progressive.   We all believe we'll be wealthy some day, so we don't want to tax the wealthy!

I never believed in the American dream; it is a fantasy of a bygone era and the most privileged classes.  It is also serves as justification for blaming the victims of a class stratified, racist society.

The recession exposed our nation’s insatiable sense of entitlement and its citizens’ resolve to remain unaccountable for personal decisions and behavior. Our nation will become a banana republic unless its citizens enact term limits for all elected State and Federal offices; establish a publicly funded campaign program available to all certified primary winners; audit all private campaign contributions of any type via the IRS; end earmarks all together; and stop publicly funded pension benefits of any kind paid to any term-expired elected office holder.

My belief in the American Dream ended long before this recession began.

It has changed my plans for retirement.

I believe it is a factor of nepotism for most of us. If your parents have wealth and connections than it will be easier for you to spring board to a higher income. I think the poor or lower middle class are finding more opportunities closing on them.

I've always believed the "American Dream" is BS; this has just confirmed my already-held beliefs.

Question 3

More Comments on Question 2

Only when there is genuine MIDDLE CLASS recovery in the US.  That requires educational innovation, infrastructure improvement, renovation of our productive economy. US is still the largest economy in the world and there can be no global recovery until we fundamentally restructure our economy.

I have my doubts that it will end, but, if it does, I don't believe things will be tough in the U.S. and probably in other countries, such as many in Europe.  I believe that other countries like South Africa, India, and China will have their day.  The U.S. will not longer be an economic power; perhaps, it no longer is one now.

When governments finally realize there need to be strict bank reforms, enact them and fair lending practices resume.

I answered in question number 1....it ended in 2009. That does not mean that I believe we can all get back to being heavily in debt and sucked into mortgages and car payments that we cannot afford. Nor do I believe that we will start earning more money.

While the recession did end technically in 2009, the reality for millions is that the recession is still with us.

Having just read an ad for subprime mortgages in a local minority newspaper, it's sad to say that we may have not seen the end of many dips in the coming years.  Additionally, if we continue to restrict immigration and refuse to fund education adequately, we'll face global competition like we've never seen before.

Maybe it will end by late 2011, but the jobs outlook is still bleak and until that improves and the credit markets rebound I do not think we can say we are out of the woods despite revisionist Government proclamations.

It will never be as it was 6 years ago in regards to making a living. Housing will never be as lopsided as it was.in some ways it was a very good thing, in other ways horrible. I believe we have been more of a depression. I need to alter my reality to survive. I am not sure of when it will end. Hopefully within 5 yrs.

Once the private sector starts to expand to create jobs, less corruption in both public and private sector enough for an agreement can be met in our political parties for our economy issues to be dealt with

I'm not sure it will ever 'end' -- life will just be different and we'll learn to live more cautiously.

I guess it depends on who is defining recession. While it may have ended in some way, the economy certainly still lags – flattened and plateaued. Another year till it feels different, longer perhaps.

Will not end until the Fed and its fraudulent currency are replaced with gold and/or silver backed currency.

Question 2 comments

It will end for some countries, not for others, unless some governments do an overhaul of their economic processes and systems.  Those countries that subscribe to a "Yertle the Turtle" economic infrastructure (e.g., the USA) will only survive if they have enough muscle to protect the status quo.

Sometime in 2011 when companies start to hire again for growth.  Presently they are hording cash and not investing for the future.

I believe the first wave of the Global Recession probably ended in 2009, but reports have shown that there may be a second wave coming in the spring of 2011. I'm not sure when I think that wave will end.

I don't know what technically defines "recession", but with the number of people out of work across the country, and related stresses on the middle class, it surely does not feel over to me.

When real unemployment is under 15%

Not until jobs have started to return in numbers beyond just the status quo.

Business models are changing radically as it moves more and more into the common person's reach. It may take a while... but then, everything is moving so quickly now. Dec. 2012, maybe?

When the majority of displaced workers return to full time work with benefits, at a salary/wages w/in 12% of their last earnings.

Question 2

It's now the middle of 2012. Do you believe the recession is ended?

Question 1 Graph

Question 1

American Dream 2010
Do you believe the Global Recession ended in 2009?
Answer Options	Response Percent	Response Count
Yes	8.5%	15
No	91.5%	161
answered question		176
skipped question		0

Survey Response Rate

The survey closed in March 2011 with 176 responses. 

LinkedIn Groups

The LinkedIn Groups were notified during November 24-December 20, 2010. The groups were:

-         Adidas Group Alumni & Employee Network

-         AMA – American Marketing Association

-         Babson College Coaching for Leadership & Teamwork Coaches

-         Babson College Community

-         Babson MBA Alumni

-         Boston Area Babson Alumni

-         Boston Business Journal

-         Boston Marketing Group

-         Bridgestar

-         Cause Communications

-         Cause Marketing Forum

-         Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Network

-         Development Communications

-         Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association

-         DMA Nonprofit Federation

-         eMarketing Association Network

-         Higher Education Public Relations and Marketing Group

-         International Fund for Animal Welfare

-         Marketing Executives Group

-         Marketing Executives Networking Group

-         Massachusetts Nonprofit Network

-         MPNBoston

-         NEDMA – New England Direct Marketing Association

-         Non Profit Network – MojaLink

-         Non Profit Professionals

-         Non-Profit Marketing

-         Nonprofit Message – Communications & Marketing

-         On Fundraising, Hosted by AFP

-         Online Fundraising for Nonprofit Organizations

-         PRSA Boston

-         Reebok International

-         Reebok, Rockport, GNC alumni

-         Serono Alumni

-         Social Media for Higher Education

-         Social Media for Nonprofit Organizations

-         The Chronicle of Philanthropy

-         The Publicity Club of New England

-         Tim’s Strategy – Ideas For Job Search, Career, And Life

-         University of Massachusetts at Boston Alumni

-         Women In Development

Survey of the well-educated

Similar to the earlier survey, I updated the questions and distributed it to LinkedIn groups hoping to reach well-educated, well-paid individuals and obtain their views of the American Dream. Highly educated, professional individuals in over 40 LinkedIn groups were asked to participate in the survey and answer the following questions:

-         Do you believe the Global Recession has ended?

-         Has the Global Recession changed your belief in the American Dream?

-         What is today’s definition of the American Dream?

-         What is your attitude toward the financial and unemployment crisis and the American Dream?

-         Is the American Dream out of reach for you?

-         Will your children achieve the American Dream?

-         Were you impacted financially by the Great Recession?

-         Were you unemployed during the economic crisis?

Recession is over – survey redo!

The American Dream crumbles during the Great Recession

The Great Recession officially ended June 2009.

The second survey was conducted in late 2010. Still there were no jobs. Job postings did not start to increase until 2011. The financial and housing markets experienced slow growth. Unemployment remained very high.

Even now, in 2012, many people still disagree that the Great Recession is over. Especially if you are a “missing” worker or working several part-time jobs to make ends meet.

Greece and Europe are in turmoil. The 99% Occupy movement is in full swing. The 1% continues to get richer. And we’re in an election year with political propaganda. The U.S. Government’s deficit remains a significant threat and our partisan leaders struggle to solve it.

Gas prices are predicted to go even higher. How much is your weekly gas bill? How much is your grocery bill these days?

The parallels to the Great Depression are only too apparent. I think we’ll need one more survey before I close my American Dream. What questions do you think I should ask?

Is America still the land of opportunity? Is the American Dream still real? Is the American Dream attainable for our children?

Economic recovery

http://jplobo.blogspot.com/2011/02/stimulating-economy.html

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION - APRIL 2012

The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks and over) was little changed at 5.1 million in April. These individuals made up 41.3 percent of the unemployed. Over the year, the number of long-term unemployed has fallen by 759,000.

The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was essentially unchanged in April at 7.9 million. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.

Among the marginally attached, there were 968,000 discouraged workers in April, about the same as a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.4 million persons marginally attached to the labor force in April had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

U.S. unemployment eases amid tepid job growth

On May 4, 2012 Mark Harden, New Media Editor, Denver Business Journal, commented on April 2012’s unemployment.

The U.S. economy added 115,000 payroll jobs in April, fewer than many economists had expected, and unemployment eased a notch to 8.1 percent, the U.S. Labor Department. The jobless rate was 8.2 percent in March. The pace of U.S. payroll job growth in April was much slower than the average monthly gain of 252,000 jobs seen in January and February. Job gains in March and April have averaged 134,500 a month, according to a broad government poll of employers known as the establishment survey.

Also worrying were the results of the separate household survey -- the poll used to calculate the unemployment rate. It showed that overall U.S. employment fell by 169,000 in April from March. The household survey counts job categories that the establishment survey leaves out, like the self employed and farm workers.

The report had some analysts warning that the nation may be in the same slowdown in new hiring that it saw last spring and summer after a more robust winter. 

"At its best, job creation is falling well short of what is needed to make a substantial dent in unemployment," said John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. "While some would like to attribute the lack of hiring to uncertainty and regulatory roadblocks, the fact is that demand for goods and services simply has not reached a level that warrants accelerated hiring."

The household survey showed that there are 12.5 million unemployed Americans -- defined by the government as jobless people who say they are actively seeking work. Of that number, 5.1 million have been without work for 27 weeks or more. Another 7.9 million people are working part time because they can't find full-time jobs, and 2.4 million are "marginally attached to the labor force," meaning they lack jobs and have looked for one in the past year, but not in the last month.

http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2012/05/04/us-unemployment-eases-amid-tepid-job.html?ana=e_pft

Slower consumer spending may reflect anxiety over pay. Modest gain after robust 1st quarter

American increased their spending more slowly in March, suggesting some are worried their paychecks aren't growing quickly enough. Consumer spending increased .3% in March.

Real incomes need to grow at a faster rate to prevent consumption growth from slowing down. The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2% in the January-March quarter, down 3% from the October-December 2011 period. The weakness reflected government budget-cutting and weaker business investment.

Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press, The Boston Globe, May 1, 2012

Polarized job market hurting those in the middle, study says.

American at the top and the bottom of the income scale are benefiting from the jobs recovery, while those in the middle are being left behind. Professions in the middle, such as financial services and specialty construction, aren’t faring well since the jobs recovery began in February 2010.

Such a shortfall helps explain why income levels have yet to return to levels seen before the recession began and why consumer spending over the past two years has grown at the slowest pace in the post-World War II era. It also suggests a pool of unemployed American will prevent wage increases from fueling inflation. It is hard to imagine how we can have a self-sustaining economic recovery when you’re not creating jobs for the middle.

Alex Kowalski, The Boston Globe, April 12, 2012

What recession?

Contradictions abound.
Google Images

http://ieatmediaforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html

More Contradictory headlines

Weighty Pay Scales: The stock market is improving. Corporate profits are up dramatically. But workers’ wages don’t seem to be rising, a study finds vs. CEO compensation continued on an upward trajectory in ’11

Workers’ salaries and wages are generally stagnant mid high unemployment – even while the economy slowly generates new jobs, stock markets rebound, average worker productivity increases and corporate profits soar.

The biggest pay packages seem to keep getting bigger at major US public companies. Timothy Cook, CEO of Apple Inc. earned $378 million in total compensation in 2011. The package is a dramatic illustration of how CEO pay continues to edge upward as the stock market soars and the economy regains it footing.

Nearly 90% of the economy’s real income growth during the current recovery has gone into corporate profits, after companies slashed payrolls, kept wages down, and squeezed productivity out of existing employees. The average American worker has gotten virtually nothing in their paychecks from this recovery, even though jobs are slowly coming back and profits are up.

Corporate profits have increased 93% before taxes from the fourth quarter of 2008 through the fourth quarter of 2011. The Dow Jones Average has risen by 35%. But mean wages have risen only .4% over the past three years and weekly wages have actually fallen by .1%.

Jay Fitzgerald and Todd Wallack, The Boston Globe, April 8, 2012

Boston Fed chief says economy improving

Eric S. Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, state the nation’s economic recovery is moving forward, but not so fast the Federal Reserve should abandon policies aimed at stimulating growth.

Positive economic signs: strong stock market performance; a falling unemployment rate; and job gains.

Negative economic signs: consumer spending remains subdued; weak housing market; cutbacks in state and local government spending; and the European debt crisis.

The U.S. economy will grow at 2.5% in 2012, a pace that will only modestly lower the national unemployment rate. Nearly 14 million Americans remain unemployed. There is a need to continue using Fed policies to bolster the nation’s economic recovery or risk a backslide.

Erin Ailworth, The Boston Globe, March 2, 2012

Recession is over?

Contradictory headlines

Profits up at health insurers vs. More Mass. Homes face foreclosure in Jan. vs. Signs point to bumps in the recovery

Capitalizing on fewer people seeking medical care and submitting claims, Massachusetts four biggest commercial health insurers posted sharply higher earnings for 2011 while their executives collected more pay. Leading the pack was Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts which earned a net income more than 10 times the $13.4 million it earned in 2010.

In January, 1,333 homeowners, or 68% more than during January 2011, received notice from lenders that were going into foreclosure. The rise in foreclosures comes despite a drop in the number of delinquent mortgages and a slowly improving economy. “There’s still no real remedy for the fact that a lot of people have lost income and don’t have the means to keep up, lenders really doesn’t want to help.”

Steady declines in applications for unemployment aid, American’s after-tax income fell, a fourth straight month of weak consumer spending, manufacturing growth slowed, construction spending dipped, consumers hit with higher gas prices and the building industry cooled off after five months of gains.

Three articles from The Boston Globe, March 2, 2012

Income for elderly falls short, study finds. Massachusetts seniors face the largest gap in the U. S.

The elderly in Massachusetts struggle with the nation’s largest shortfall between income and costs, with the age group’s median income covering only about 60% of basic living expenses. Five of the six New England states were represented in the top ten in a joint study for the Wider Opportunities for Women and University of Massachusetts.

 The study aims to underscore the importance of entitlement programs – Social Security and Medicare – that support the elderly and face potential cuts as Congress grapples with long-term deficits.

Gail Waterhouse, The Boston Globe, March 1, 2012

Mass Underemployment

Hidden behind Massachusetts’s relatively good unemployment rate of 6.8%, economists say underemployment is a big problem. One analysis finds Massachusetts is the worst in the nation, with 8.9% of currently employed people with bachelor degrees or higher now working in jobs at least one educational level below where they should be.

A non-scientific poll of 995 people in Massachusetts confirmed that 40% of workers over 50 years old were not working at their peak capacity.

Don Seiffert, Boston Business Journal, February 24 – March 1, 2012

Can you find the missing workers?

Chicago, view from the Hancock Tower

Missing: 5.4 million workers

Millions of Americans vanished from the U.S. labor force in the past three years, many of them do discouraged by long, fruitless job searches that thy have given up looking for work, convinced that no employer wants them.

The “hidden unemployed” are not counted in the official jobless rate, tracked by the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University. They estimate the number to be 5.4 million people, with over 120,000 in Massachusetts. Half of the missing workers are under the age of 35.

Among the missing are teenagers and laid off 60-year-olds. Some are in college or training programs. Many have ended up homeless. Although the official unemployment rate slipped to 8.3% in January, when the labor force dropouts and the underemployed – those working part-time because they can’t find full-time jobs – are included, the rate doubles to 17%.

Katie Johnston, The Boston Globe, February 1, 2012

Confidence retreats in January

Consumer confidence fell in January after two straight months of gains as Americans become more worried about their incomes, rising gas prices, how hard it is to find a job, and overall business conditions. Things haven’t gotten much better in 2012. 

Americans have reasons to be cautious in their optimism as the jobless rate is still high at 8.5% although it is at the lowest level in nearly three years. Consumers are worried about a weak housing market, inflation and that incomes are not keeping pace with inflation, causing shoppers cut back on big purchases. 

Associated Press, The Boston Globe, February 1, 2012

Nearly one-third of middle class suffer downward mobility

Tami Luhby of CNNMoney.com wrote in January 12, 2012:

Nearly one third of Americans who were raised in the middle class dropped down the economic ladder as adults -- and that's before the Great Recession hit. Pew looked at children born in the early- to mid-1960s and assessed their economic status roughly 40 years later.

Being middle class in the parents' generation meant a household income of roughly $33,000 to $64,000 in 1979. But their children had to earn between $54,000 and $111,000 to maintain their relative standing in society in the mid-2000s. (These figures are adjusted for inflation.)

The middle class is defined as those between the 30th and 70th income percentile.

Things have only gotten worse in recent years. The Great Recession has likely made it harder for many people to remain in the middle class, experts said.

Long-term unemployment has devastated the ranks of the middle class, with many people losing their homes and forced to turn to food banks and government aid after they run through their savings. It takes nearly 41 weeks, on average, for the jobless to find new work. Also, the steep decline in home values has hurt many in the middle class.

Young adults may find it particularly difficult to hold onto their parents' middle class status. That's because they are having a much harder time landing jobs, particularly well-paying positions in their field. The unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds was 14.4% in December, compared to the national 8.5% rate.

This could hurt their earning potential for decades to come, which has earned them the nickname "The Lost Generation."

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/11/news/economy/middle_class_mobility/index.htm

Where is the American Dream today?

On November 16, 2011, Tiziana Dearing, CEO of Boston Rising, questions whether or not the American Dream is still alive.

Post-recovery is taking longer than the past. From 1945 to 1990 it took on average six months for jobs to return to their pre-recession levels. In the recession of the early 1990s, it took fifteen months. In the early 2000s, it took 39 months. Today we are on track for jobs to come back 60 months (five years) after the economy has recovered.

According to the Brookings Institute, the poor in the U.S. grew to an historic high of 46.2 million, and in extreme-poverty neighborhoods, where at least 40% of individuals live below the poverty line, the population rose by one-third from 2000 to 2005-09. The American Dream is receding. Americans are no longer dreaming the same Dream.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tiziana-dearing/us-wealth-gap_b_1093582.html

Amid unemployment and inequality, is the American Dream at risk?

On October 26, 2011, Zachary Ross, The Lookout, wrote about the economic results of the Great Recession on the Future of the American Dream. Zachary writes:

For well over a century, the American Dream has acted as a beacon of hope to people around the world: the notion that by working hard and playing by the rules, anyone can build a secure, comfortable life for themselves and a bright future for their kids. But as the country struggles to shake off the Great Recession, amid persistent joblessness and growing inequality, is that idea at risk?

In May, a Pew poll found that just 47 percent of Americans think their kids will enjoy a higher standard of living as adults than they themselves do. As recently as 2009--the height of the economic downturn--that number was 62 percent.

This growing pessimism isn't hard to explain. Fourteen million Americans are officially unemployed, and the number spikes to around 26 million if you count people who have grown discouraged and given up looking for work. The average duration of joblessness is now at a record nine months. Meanwhile, GDP growth has been limping along since the official end of the recession over two years ago.

The young have been especially hard hit. Unemployment for Americans in their 20s has skyrocketed in recent years. And a growing number are moving in with their parents as they struggle to make ends meet.

At the same time, Americans have also been debating the thorny question of inequality--an issue spotlighted lately by the Occupy movement. A CBO report released Tuesday--just the latest in a series of studies to confirm the massive rich-poor gap--found that income for the wealthiest one percent of Americans had exploded since 1979, by a whopping 275 percent. Meanwhile, income for the poorest 20 percent grew by just 18 percent in the same period.

But the heart of the American Dream has always been about mobility. As long as people feel they have a fair shot at building a better life, they've usually been able to put up with periods of economic turmoil, even with relatively high levels of inequality.

Of course, concerns about the flickering of the American Dream are hardly new. Back in the recession of the early 90s, Generation Xers graduating from college were told they'd struggle to do better than their parents had--a prediction that wasn't borne out.

But this time may be different. Economists say that even once growth gets back to normal--whenever that may be--employment will likely come back lower than we've grown used to, thanks in part to increasing offshoring of jobs and automation. And our political system appears even more dysfunctional than it did even back then.

"It's time to reclaim the American Dream," then-Sen. Barack Obama declared back in 2007. At this point, it looks like we've got a long way to go.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/amid-unemployment-inequality-american-dream-risk-200141836.html