Posted: September 9th, 2011 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Economy, Employment | Tags: Economy, Employment, Infographic, Stimulus, UnEmployment | No Comments »
We all know the economic state of the country in pretty bad, and here’s a visual representation of one factor of the economy – unemployment.
You can see that despite the rhetoric (and trillions of dollars in spending), the unemployment rate hasn’t moved much. This first graph covers the unemployment rate from the start of the recession to August, 2011. The August figure is important because it’s the first time in over 40 years that the U.S. economy produced a net 0 new jobs.
The second graphic shows major U.S. cities that are losing or gaining the most jobs. It’s important to note that this data is NOT seasonally adjusted.
All the data is from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and presented as an infographic courtesy of the folks at Visual.ly
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Posted: March 29th, 2011 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Employment | Tags: Employment, Infographic, Job security, jobs | 1 Comment »
As you can see in this infographic, the majority of Americans polled feel as secure (or insecure) about their employment as they did a year ago.
This shouldn’t really surprise anyone since the unemployment level has stabilized. But there’s still that 1% who isn’t sure?! Who are these people? Did they have any sense of cognition, or are they simply mindless automatons shuffling through their lives on autopilot?
What I love about this graphic is that it highlights the effect of youth and education on the perception of job security. Those younger than 30 feel more secure than those over 30, which makes sense given that younger workers usually cost employers less money (so they are apt to keep them) and they have more mobility due to more recent and relevant education a skill set.
What I found surprising is that those in the 30-49 age bracket felt most insecure. I would have thought it would be the 50 and over set feeling most insecure.
Source.
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Posted: October 22nd, 2010 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Debt, Tips | Tags: Debt, Employment, How To, Income, Saving Money, Single Income, spending, Tips | 4 Comments »
This year my wife and I are celebrating our 7th year anniversary of living on a single income. It doesn’t seem possible that it’s been so long. We had a beautiful newborn when we started out, and since then our family has blossomed to 3 wonderful children. My wife and I felt that our children would benefit more from having one of us as the caregiver instead of someone outside the family. So without much forethought, my wife left the workforce shortly before the birth of our 1st child.
In many ways, we were lucky to have been successful without much planning. Today, many couples and families find themselves living on one income out of necessity rather than choice. The Great Recession has left millions of people unemployed, and many millions more wondering if they could get by on one income if they had to.
The good news is that anyone can do it, but having a higher income may mean you need less planning.
Here are some lessons I’ve learned along the way that may help you, whether you’re thinking of life on a single income to help raise a child or you have to live on a single income because you have lost or may lose your job.
How to live on one income
Communicate. Being in agreement with your spouse or partner is absolutely essential to living on a single income. If one of you is not upholding your part of the arrangement, then both of you will fail. It’s important to talk about how each of you view your role, as well as your feelings and concerns along the way. It’s very easy for the bread winner to feel more important than the partner who is staying at home, but both have parts to play.
In our house, I’m the one who works to bring home a paycheck, but my wife views her role as making that paycheck go as far as she can. To that end, she clips coupons, only buys items on sale and looks to cut costs wherever she can. She makes her own bread, and cooks all the meals for the family. We simply would not be able to live on my income alone if she didn’t do those things. Living on one income is a team effort.
Keep a close watch on your spending. Some people create a budget and stick to that for all their expenses. Others simply automate savings plans and bill paying, while keeping tabs on their discretionary spending. Whatever method you use, you need to be able to account for all the money coming in and all the money going out. It seems ridiculously simple, but the truth is that the American standard of living is such that many double income families spend well beyond their means on an daily basis. That simply is not possible to sustain for very long on one income.
Trim more than just the latte. Cutting your expenses is a necessity for making the transition from a double income to single income, but skipping the extra latte alone isn’t going to make that transition happen. You’ll need to make a serious assessment of what is essential and what isn’t, and cut the extras. While you may get by without cable, you can’t do without other expenses like auto insurance for example. If you live in a state where insurance is mandatory, shop around and save on car insurance.
Wave ‘goodbye’ to the Joneses. I can say from experience that there is no way you will keep up with your neighbors spending while they are on a dual income and you aren’t. But the good news is that you will likely find yourself much happier, since you won’t be so focused on materialistic aspects of living. My family and I simply don’t have the extra money for the latest video games or movies, but we still have fun with things like family game night. And I think we’re much closer as a result.
Don’t trim too much. While it’s imperative to cut spending, you shouldn’t touch savings. You’ll still need to save for retirement, for example and you’ll find that saving up to buy that big ticket item is also a necessity when you’re living on a single paycheck.
Take baby steps. If you have the opportunity to take a trial run, then do it. Living on a single income is not a stress-free lifestyle. Some couples don’t get to make the choice. If one partner is laid off, then adjusting to life on one income is a new reality. My wife and I were fortunate enough to have had the choice. When our first daughter was born, unemployment in the U.S. was near 5% and I was riding the wave of yearly, automatic pay raises. These days, few people are lucky enough to be able to count on a yearly raise, and millions more can’t even count on having a job.
Lessons from living on a single income.
Even though my wife and I have to live on a single income, we still didn’t plan or prepare enough ahead of time. Another thing we’ve learned along the way is that most people really can’t afford the car they drive. Living on just my income has really driven that point home. We have a 2 year old minivan that we bought used when our 10 year old family car couldn’t hold 3 car seats, and I drive an 11 year old car to work every day.
Another sacrifice we’ve made is paring back our lifestyle. Most of our friends have flat screen, hi-def televisions sets, but we still have a 27-inch CRT television. We have used furniture that has been gifted to us by our friends (the Joneses) when they buy newer, more stylish models. Our kids know all about hand-me-down clothes first hand. Besides wearing their siblings used clothes, we’ve even purchased many clothes from consignment shops. All our kids wore generic diapers, and passed toys on to younger siblings.
The result of much of this has been that our kids view material things differently than other kids. They don’t think of things as disposable. They don’t expect to get the latest fad simply because “all the other kids” have one. Sure there are times when they shed some tears over not having the name-brand gizmo their friends have, but in the end I think they’re far less materialistic than their peers. Besides, they’re learning important money lessons that will serve them well throughout their lives.
Lastly, avoiding debt is a big factor in success. You aren’t going to be able to get ahead, much less stay afloat if a sizable chunk of your income is going to pay off something you bought yesterday or last year. You have to get used to living below your means, but once you make that adjustment you’ll find that saving, investing and reaching your goals is not only possible but much more satisfying. Living on a single income isn’t as difficult as it seems, but living comfortably on a single income is damn near impossible if you’re saddled with debt.
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Posted: September 22nd, 2010 | Author: Joe | Filed under: Economy, Employment | Tags: Economy, Employment, Recession | 2 Comments »
Can someone please explain this to me?
“The longest recession the country has endured since the Great Depression ended in June 2009, a group that dates the beginning and end of recessions declared Monday.”
According to The National Bureau of Economics (NBER), the recession ended last year, in June 2009. Not only does this ring hollow with near 10% unemployment and no sign of it falling any time soon, but it just doesn’t make sense when you look at the data and match it to the start and end dates given by NBER.
I understand that unemployment is a lagging indicator and it will take a while for it to come back down. I get that. But I also understood a recession as being defined by “2 or more consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth”. In other words, a shrinking economy.
But as this data shows the U.S. economy didn’t have 2 consecutive quarters of negative growth until the second half of 2008 – fully 6 months after the NBER’s claim of December 2007 as the start of the recession!
US GDP 2006-2010
However, if you look at when unemployment began to rise, it was 2007 ( data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics):
But if we’re using the unemployment rate to determine the start of recession, shouldn’t we use that to determine the end? Or, conversely, if we use GDP to determine the end, shouldn’t that be the metric for the start?
I’m really trying to reconcile this with some sort of impartial logic, but I can’t help but wonder if the reason is really political.
Paragraphs like this one from an AP article make me wonder if the dates and data are being chosen simply to place 2 recessions under one unpopular republican president:
“In President George W. Bush’s eight years in office, the United States fell into two recessions. The first started in March 2001 and ended that November. The second one started in December 2007”
Somebody tell me I’m wrong. Someone explain to me how the recession can impartially and objectively be said to have started in December 2007, and end in July of 2009, because it just doesn’t add up to me.
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