Tipsheet: Unemployment angles

The latest good news and bad news on the national jobs front may have left some people just a little confused. So now would be an excellent time to look more closely at the unemployment picture in your community.

According to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the country added almost 300,000 new jobs in April but the unemployment rate went up to almost 10%. It's a weird juxtaposition of trends, says NPR's Planet Money, but it's likely to continue for several months because as more companies start hiring, more people jump back into the job market. You might tell that story by profiling someone in your community who just started looking again and by checking in with local companies that are hiring for the first time in ages. Your state employment office should be a good source of information on both employers and job seekers.

One area where hiring has been on the uptick for several months in a row is in temporary jobs. As CNN reports, economists see that as a positive sign because many businesses that hire temp workers eventually convert those jobs to full time.

Another angle on the jobs story is the situation facing people who have been out of work for a long time. Bloomberg reports that Congress has no appetite for extending unemployment benefits again. After extending the benefits three times, they may stand pat a 99 weeks, leaving more than a million Americans at risk of losing their weekly checks. According to a study by the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative, about a quarter of the almost 15 million unemployed Americans have been out of work for more than a year (pdf). Who are the long-term unemployed in your community? Are they aware that their benefits may soon run out? What will they do if and when that happens?

Finally, consider taking a look at the jobs picture through the eyes of specific age groups. The Pew report says only a small number of the unemployed are 55 or older but those who are out of work tend to have more trouble finding new jobs. Almost 30 percent of them remain jobless for a year or longer, the highest rate of any age group. At the other end of the spectrum, the jobs outlook for teenagers appears to be grim. An analysis by the Employment Policies Institute finds a dramatic increase in the percentage of unemployed teens who have spent six months or more looking for work.�

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