Job Distress

I just discovered that I'm part of a new trend. New unemployment figures released this week say that 10% of American workers are unemployed. Apparently this is really bad news ("first time in 26 years!"). But another figure that doesn't get mentioned much is the under-employment rate, which has also reached a new high (17.5%). Underemployment represents people (like me) who want full-time work but have to settle for part-time jobs. This was a new term for me, though not a new concept.

Apparently it's worse in California. Tim Rutten, writing in today's Los Angeles Times ("Jobs Must be Job 1"), says that California, with its $1.6 trillion economy, would be the eighth largest economy in the world if it were an independent country.  Then he writes, "If you aggregate the unemployed with the underemployed, [California's] rate of what you might call job distress is 20%. Think about that: One in five willing workers in the world's eighth-largest economy is without full-time employment."

These are not encouraging words. I knew I was having a tough time even landing interviews for jobs I felt qualified for--in some cases, over-qualified. Now I guess I understand why.  There are just too many of us seeking, applying, praying for the same positions.