The Recycle Bin

Unemployment in the US is hitting record levels.  Over the past few years we have begun a trend in outsourcing and unemployment here in the US.  Unemployment rates in range from 11.4% in Puerto Rico and Michigan with 8.9%  to South Dakota with 3.3% and Nebraska with 3.5% unemployment according to the preliminary reports that were released from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics in  August of 2008.  Michigan’s unemployment rate is the second worse in our nation.  In 2006 CNN was projecting that Michigan’s unemployment rate would reach 7.7% in 2008 but in actuality we have pushed past that point by 1.2% to the whopping 8.9% with Detroit having the highest unemployment rate in the state of 10.9%.  Much of Michigan’s economic problems are due to mass layoffs with large companies such as Ford, GM, Bosch, and some smaller companies who have laid off over 50 employees at a time.  Michigan was once the leader in the auto industry but has since outsourced much of its work to other locations that could offer cheaper labor.

“From January through August 2008, the total number of mass layoff events (seasonally adjusted), at 12,542, and initial claims (seasonally adjusted), at 1,274,765, were the highest for the January-August period since 2003.

The national unemployment rate was 6.1 percent in August, seasonally

adjusted, up from 5.7 percent in the prior month and from 4.7 percent a

year earlier.  In August, total nonfarm payroll employment decreased by

84,000 over the month and by 283,000 from a year earlier.” (U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 Mass Layoffs Summary)

I know that these numbers may seem like a lot to take in but the statistics are crazy and turning out to be much higher than most analysts had projected.  The US unemployment preliminary reports from the BLS are pretty shocking.  Payroll decreasing by 84,000 over one month with an annual decrease of 283,000 from a year earlier.  That is a huge amount of decrease considering that payroll is supposed to increase yearly in a healthy market.

“The number of unemployed persons rose by 592,000 to 9.4 million in August, and the unemployment rate increased by 0.4 percentage point to 6.1 percent. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 2.2 million and the unemployment rate has risen by 1.4 percentage points, with most of the increase occurring over the past 4 months.” (United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: AUGUST 2008)

This may not seem like that drastic of an increase when you look at the percentage point increase but you have look at the actual numbers.  Unemployed persons rose by 592,000 in August alone totaling a whopping 9.4 million unemployed Americans thus far in 2008.  With still three more months to go in the year.  If unemployment rose by 592,000 in August alone what could happen within the next 3 months.  Will it get better or continue to get worse.

“The number of multiple jobholders increased by 298,000 in August to 8.1 million, accounting for 5.5 percent of total employed.” (United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: AUGUST 2008)

This means that 298,000 additional workers had to take on a second job to help make ends meet.  Many people who are looking to take on a second job are unable to find one due to the lack of available jobs.  Outsourcing, downsizing, bankruptcies, poor forecasting, and decreased need for goods have all lead to the decrease in jobs.

“In August, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) rose by 163,000 to 1.8 million, an increase of 589,000 over the past 12 months. The newly unemployed those who were jobless fewer than 5 weeks—increased by 400,000 over the month.

The number of persons who lost their last job rose by 417,000 to 4.8 million in August, with increases occurring among those on temporary layoff and those who do not expect to be recalled to work. Over the last 4 months, the number of unemployed job losers has increased by 810,000.” (United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008 THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: AUGUST 2008)

Outsourcing, downsizing, bankruptcies, poor forecasting, and decreased need for goods have all lead to the decrease in jobs in our country.  The strain on the larger company’s bottom lines has caused them to look elsewhere for employees who will work for less money. 

When I look at the unemployment charts dating all the way back to 1976 for Michigan and look at the spikes and the falls the only other drastic increase in unemployment that was this steep was from 1979 to 1983.  If Michigan’s economy is any sort of an indicator to what could be happening to our country then we could be in for some really tough times here in the future.  In 1982 and 1983 the national unemployment rate was 9.7 and 9.6 consecutively.  The largest jump in the unemployment rate within a 12 month period was in 1974 to 1975 with an increase of 2.9 percent in one year.  The unemployment rate topped out at 9.7% in 1982 the highest national unemployment rate in our nation dating back to 1942.  In August of 2007 the US unemployment rate was 4.6% and this year it is already 6.1% from August 2007 to August 2008.  Approximately 1.1% of this change has taken place within the last 4 months.  If this amount of change is an indicator of what is to come within the next 8 months to a year we could very well see the largest annual unemployment spike dating back to 1942 surpassing the 2.9% increase between 1974 and 1975.  

Could our economic situation have been solved by better management and stricter HR departments, streamlining the bottom line, and better forecasting?  I really think that if we would have been paying a lot more attention to the bottom line and less attention being greedy that our nation would not be in this situation.  Most of these companies were making money over here, they just wanted to make more profit so they took their business elsewhere so they could get cheaper labor and cheaper pricing on buildings and other assets.  What will happen to our economy over the next few years?  Time can only tell.

Works Cited

U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics

Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population, 1942 to date

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat1.pdf

U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics

Local Area Unemployment Statistics

http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet

U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008

Mass Layoffs Summary

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/mmls.nr0.htm

United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION: AUGUST 2008

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

United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008

THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION SUMARY

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

University of Michigan News Service,  2006

http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=1069

Just thought I'd share some of the information I found.

It         It has been quite some time since I last posted.  I apologize for the lapse in time.  I  just wanted to update everyone on the community gardens.  The small garden at the Coloma Elementary School is doing good.  It has been really hot and dry and the heat has done a number on the plants giving them sunburn and the ground has a lot of gravel in it too so it is really hard to keep the moisture in.  But we are getting a lot of green peppers, and tomatoes out of the garden along with quite a few zucchini and cucumbers.  The big garden at North Berrien Senior Center is doing great. We just had a weeding weekend this last weekend and are able to keep the weeds at bay.  The plants out there are looking wonderful!  We harvested a few vegetables as well.  I will post some pictures.  The zucchinis are still going strong, and the tomatoes are finally turning.  The pumpkins are starting to turn orange, and the muskmelon are about to ripen.  We also have some small "black" watermelons that are coming on like crazy.  Oh, and the acorn squash and butternut squash are growing like wildfire.   

I am very satisfied as to the progress that our two gardens have made this year.  I have not been able to talk with the senior center for about a month now due to my new work schedule.  I hear through the grape vine thought that they are extremely happy with the garden.  I am just so ecstatic to see people using it and enjoying the veggies.  I want to help to feed our communities with fresh vegetables to help cut down on the grocery bills.  

If you know of anyone who would like to help out next year, or if you would like to make a monetary donation please let me know.  Also we are looking to expand to at least 3 to 4 more gardens next year so if you know of a great location just drop me a line.

Thank you for reading,

Melissa Goetsch
Therecyclebin.org

This Saturday we will be having a Community Garden Weeding Day at the North Berrien Senior Center Community Garden. Please message me if you are interested in helping.

Melissa G.

The planting days were a great success.  Please enjoy the pictures and feel free to visit the gardens at your convienence.  Feel free to weed, water, or just observe the community gardens as they grow.  We are still looking for donations of marigolds, or any other natural means of pest control.

I want to send a special thanks out to Travis Potter and his friend Andy for all their help in the gardens.  I also want to thank The Watervliet Fruit Exchange for their generous donation of vegetables to the senior center garden.

I am having some problems getting the Flickr API to work on my website.  Please have patients while we work out the kinks.  I want to give a special thank you to Travis and Andy for all the help with the community gardens!

Come join us on Thursday May 29th at 10am for the planting of the North Berrien Senior Center Community Garden.  We will begin planting at about 10 am and will continue for about 3-4 hours.  Any donations can be made at this time as well.  For directions to the senior center click here, or see map below.

A special thank you to the Watervliet Fruit Exchange, Inc. at 7821 Red Arrow Hwy. Watervliet, MI 49098 for their donation of vegetables to be planted.  A special thanks to Carmody Road Greenhouse as well for the use of a tractor and disk to prepare the soil for planting as well.

Map to Senior Center

View Larger Map

Monday May 26th Coloma Elementry School (Behind the Building)

Monday May 26th we will be planing our ground breaking for our first garden. We will start at 4 o'clock and will till up the ground, make rows, and plant our seeds. Please bring your shovels, hoes and other gardening supplies. Any donations will also be accepted at this time.

Thursday May 29th at 10:00am

Thursday May 29th at 10:00 am. We will start the planting of the North Berrien Senior Center's garden. We will be tilling up the ground, make rows, and plant our seeds. Please bring your shovels, hoes and other gardening supplies.

Donations needed:

• Tiller
  
• Rakes
  
• Hoes
  
• Hoses
  
• Stakes
  
• Twine
  
• Sunscreen
  
• Water cans and sprayers
  
• Vegetable Seeds
• Land For additional gardens.
• Land for composting.
• Untreated grass clippings
  
• And anything else you would like to donate.

Thank you for your time,

Melissa Goetsch
269-605-4346

www.therecyclebin.org
www.myspace.com/therecyclebindotorg
therecyclebin@gmail.com

We are partnering with Urban Farming!!!  Our community gardening project will be receiving backing from www.urbanfarming.org  I am so excited!  I met Taja Sevelle today, and she is amazing!  Taja is a wonderful person.  She has taken her idea of Urban Farming and within a few short years grown it into a huge charity.  I look forward to helping to eradicate hunger and help people with their rising food costs by planting as many community gardens as possible.  Teaching the skill of gardening, and giving free food to those that need it!

Donate to The Recycle Bin to help us to offset the costs of extra gardening equipment. See the website for details.
http://therecyclebin.org
Just click on the Donate Button on the left hand side of the page.