Surprising Details About "Fast-Food Workers" Point to BIG Problem

Are you aware that relatively FEW fast-food workers are teenagers?  Most of them are ADULTS working in a low-paying part-time job. As this article points out, fast-food employment is one of the MAINSTAYS of our so-called "job growth." ...Dennis

Fast food strikes underline big national problem

(MoneyWatch) Employees of fast food restaurants are striking in cities around the country, bolstered by support from labor unions, churches, and other groups, demanding $15 an hour wages and a greater ability to unionize. Many consumers have complained that the expectations are unreasonable, given the type of work and the skills and drive they assume must be lacking in the workers.

However, government statistics and studies suggest that the common picture of the fast food worker is inaccurate. Not only are relatively few of them teenagers looking for some pocket money while attending school, but the number of adults working in low-paying part-time jobs against their wishes is rapidly growing.

• Fast-food workers urged to stage nationwide strike
• Fast-food workers: Have it your way -- elsewhere
• 80 percent of U.S. adults face near poverty, unemployment, survey finds
• Even as economy rebounds, income inequality festers
• Front group ups battle against minimum wage hike

Everyone has a sense that fast food workers don't make a lot of money, but just how much less they earn than other Americans is spelled out in the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the study, the average hourly earnings for non-farm labor was $23.98 in July. For production and non-supervisory workers, the average hourly wage was $20.14. In contrast, the average hourly wage last year for the nation's roughly 505,000 fast-food cooks was $9.03 an hour. The 2.9 million food preparation and serving workers had an average hourly wage of $9. Furthermore, the wages have been dropping over the last few years when compared in 1982-1984 dollars (an analysis that can account for inflation). Here's the Bureau of Labor Statistics graph from January 2010 to July 2013:

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ST. LOUIS

Compounding the problem is that food service workers are typically under-employed. The average weekly hours for all non-farm employees were 34.4 in July. But according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the average weekly hours for the overall leisure and hospitality category, which includes fast food, haven't been above 26.4 since 2006. The numbers suggest that the average fast food worker, assuming working 52 weeks without vacation, makes about $12,355. The federal poverty guideline for a single person is $11,490.

Meanwhile, these jobs are no longer introductions to the world of work. The age of the average worker is 28, with 70 percent 20 years old or older, according to statistics compiled by AOL Jobs. One out of four has at least one child. A third has at least some college education. And, according to the National Employment Law Project, there is "limited occupational mobility," so the positions don't lead to higher paying positions let alone opportunities to own franchises.

Unfortunately for the overall economy, fast food employment is one of the mainstays of job growth. If current patterns continue, more adults will end up asking if patrons want fries with their meals while not being able to afford to eat where they work.

© 2013 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

34-Year LOW: 90 Million No Longer in Work Force

The article speaks for itself. ...Dennis

LABOR PARTICIPATION RATE HITS 34-YEAR LOW

The percentage of Americans who have a job or are looking for one, known as the labor force participation rate (LFPR), has plunged to a 34-year low, according to a new report from staffing company Express Employment Professionals.

"Following the Great Recession, we've entered into the Great Shift," says Express Employment Professionals CEO Bob Funk, who previously served as chairman of the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank. "This is a period defined by the Boomer retirement, Millennial frustration, and growing reliance on government programs. All indicators suggest this shift is not sustainable." 

The New York Times reported on the study and suggested that "another cause [of the Great Shift] may be the rise in the number of workers on disability."

A record 8,733,461 people now receive disability benefits, a figure greater than the population of New York City.

Today, nearly 90 million Americans are no longer in the labor force.

Unemployment Goes Up and New Home Sales Go Down...

Hey... "The economy is doing OK and things are getting better!" Or so we're told...unless you happen to be trying to sell your home or get a job. With interest rates on the verge of escalating out of control, if you want to be able to survive the coming financial changes, you had better be prepared.  There is NOTHING more secure than having a large financial network.  Think about it. ...Dennis

NEW HOME SALES COLLAPSE 13.4% IN JULY

Wednesday, Breitbart News reported that over the last 30 days Gallup measured a sharp spike in unemployment, from 7.7% to 8.9%. Friday, the Commerce Department released another startling and unexpected statistic: 

New home sales collapsed in July by a full 13.4%. According to the AP this is a 9-month low.

A rise in interest rates has also resulted in a decrease in mortgage applications.  This isn't the only bad news coming out of July. Only 162,000 jobs were created during the entire month; most of them part-time.

Thursday,  jobless claims rose by 13,000 over the previous week to 336,000.
There was good news in July. Existing home sales rose to their highest level since 2009. Unfortunately, no one is put to work building, landscaping, selling and manufacturing materials for a home that already exists.

ARTICLE:

Are YOU Making LESS Than You Were 4 Years Ago?

Four years ago the White House announced that the "recession" was over and the "recovery" had begun.  If that's true, how is it that the typical American household is making LESS per year than it was 4 years ago?  Don't depend on "official" government sources...just look around and talk to people.  You'll discover how badly they need what we're offering. ...Dennis

Incomes Have Dropped Twice as Much During the 'Recovery' as During the Recession

President Obama likes to talk about income inequality, but what matters far more is the actual income of the typical American.  And how has the typical American household income fared on Obama's watch?  Well, the economic "recovery" has now spanned an Olympiad, and during that time the typical American household income has not only dropped—it has dropped more than twice as much as it did during the recession.

New estimates derived from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey by Sentier Research indicate that the real (inflation-adjusted) median annual household income in America has fallen by 4.4 percent during the "recovery," after having fallen by 1.8 during the recession.  During the recession, the median American household income fell by $1,002 (from $55,480 to $54,478). During the recovery—that is, from the officially defined end of the recession (in June 2009) to the most recent month for which figures are available (June 2013)—the median American household income has fallen by $2,380 (from $54,478 to $52,098).  So the typical American household is making almost $2,400 less per year (in constant 2013 dollars) than it was four years ago, when the Obama "recovery" began.

Household Income BELOW 2009

Isn't it strange that mainstream media outlets such as CNBC are parroting the official spin that the "Great Recession" ended in 2009, while at the same time admitting that household incomes are DOWN since it ended?  Don't fall for it!  Look at the bottom line.  People are hurting everywhere as daily prices continue to escalate while incomes are moving down.  Take charge of YOUR INCOME by building your own financial co-op! ...Dennis

Report: Household income below end-of-recession

The average American household is earning less than when the Great Recession ended four years ago, according to a report released Wednesday. 

U.S. median household income, once adjusted for inflation, has fallen 4.4 percent in that time, according to the report from Sentier Research. The report is based on an analysis of Census Bureau data. 

The median, or midpoint, income in June 2013 was $52,098. That's down from $54,478 in June 2009, when the recession officially ended. And it's below the $55,480 that the median household took in when the recession began in December 2007.

 

CNBC's Kelly Evans shares her thoughts the Fed minutes and falling household incomes.

 

The report says nearly every group is worse off than four years ago, except for those 65 to 74. Some groups have experienced larger-than-average declines, including blacks, young and upper-middle-aged people, and the unemployed.

LINK to article and video:

 

Unemployment Spikes to 18 Month High

Outside of the federal government’s Bureau of Labor statistics, the Gallup polling organization also tracks the nation’s unemployment rate. While the BLS and Gallup findings might not always perfectly align, the trends almost always do and the small statistical differences just haven’t been worthy of note. But now Gallup is showing a sizable 30 day jump in the unemployment rate, from 7.7% on July 21 to 8.9% today. This is an 18-month high. ...Dennis

GALLUP: UNEMPLOYMENT RATE JUMPS FROM 7.7% TO 8.9% IN 30 DAYS

At the end of July, the BLS showed a 7.4% unemployment rate, compared to Gallup's 7.8%. Again, a difference not worthy of note. But Gallup's upward trend to almost 9% in just the last three weeks is alarming, especially because this is not a poll with a history of wild swings due to statistical anomalies. Gallup's sample size is  a massive 30,000 adults and the rolling average is taken over a full 30 day period.

Gallup also shows an alarming increase in the number of underemployed (those with some work seeking more). During the same 30-day period, that number has jumped from 17.1% to 17.9%.

LINK to article

Earning LESS Today Than In 1968?

The US economy has been steadily declining for more than a decade now.  The percentage of good jobs in our economy continues to shrink and less than half of all Americans now consider themselves to be middle class. It's time to sound the alarm and take control of your income NOW by building a network! ...Dennis

40 Percent Of U.S. Workers Make Less Than What A Full-Time Minimum Wage Worker Made In 1968

Are American workers paid enough?  That is a topic that is endlessly debated all across this great land of ours.  Unfortunately, what pretty much everyone can agree on is that American workers are not making as much as they used to after you account for inflation.  Back in 1968, the minimum wage in the United States was $1.60 an hour.  That sounds very small, but after you account for inflation a very different picture emerges.  Using the inflation calculator that the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides, $1.60 in 1968 is equivalent to $10.74 today.  And of course the official government inflation numbers have been heavily manipulated to make inflation look much lower than it actually is, so the number for today should actually be substantially higher than $10.74, but for purposes of this article we will use $10.74.  If you were to work a full-time job at $10.74 an hour for a full year (with two weeks off for vacation), you would make about $21,480 for the year.  That isn’t a lot of money, but according to the Social Security Administration, 40.28% of all workers make less than $20,000 a year in America today.  So that means that more than 40 percent of all U.S. workers actually make less than what a full-time minimum wage worker made back in 1968.  That is how far we have fallen.

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The "REAL" US Debt is...WHAT?!?

For those who tell you that the current economic downturn is only a "cycle" and that we'll be moving out it before long...how do you think they would feel if they knew the Federal Government has been "low-balling" the public for years?  Read this very carefully–especially the last paragraph...Dennis

California economist says real US debt $70 trillion

The federal government has been low-balling the public for years on how much debt it actually has, a University of California, San Diego economics professor says, adding that the real amount is $70 trillion – not $16.9 trillion.

James Hamilton's claim the United States is in a much deeper financial hole than many realize comes as Congress gets ready for another budget battle when lawmakers return in September. Both sides have been digging in on their policy positions over the debt, spending and the country's future fiscal health.

Hamilton believes the government is miscalculating what it owes by leaving out certain unfunded liabilities that include government loan guarantees, deposit insurance, and actions taken by the Federal Reserve as well as the cost of other government trust funds. Factoring in those figures brings the total amount the government owes to a staggering $70 trillion, he says.

“The biggest off-balance-sheet liabilities come from recognition of the fiscal stress that will come in the form of an aging population and rising medical expenditures,” Hamilton says, adding, “It is worth noting that there are many historical episodes in which off-balance sheet liabilities ended up having quite significant on-balance sheet implications.”

Hamilton isn’t the first economist to say the government understates how much it owes. Claims that the real liability facing the government is $70 trillion date back several years. David Walker, former U.S. Comptroller and CEO of the Comeback America Initiative, made similar claims in 2012. Walker’s calculations include unfunded Social Security, Medicare and retiree pension promises.  Boston economists Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns warned in a 2008 Forbes article about what could happen if the government doesn’t curb its spending.

“The earthquake will come via a collapse in the market for U.S. government bonds as domestic and foreign investors realize that the only way Uncle Sam can meet his future spending obligations is to print massive quantities of money,” they said. “The result will be sky-high inflation and interest rates and, most surely, a prolonged reduction in output and employment. This could happen today. It could happen tomorrow. But it will happen here just as it has happened in every other country that tried to spend far beyond its ability to pay.”

LINK to ARTICLE:

Are you mad yet?  We can't trust our government to tell the truth (never have really) especially when it comes to the deficit and how much debt our country is running up.  It is such a complicated and obfuscated mess that you can only assume that it is done deliberately.  Things are getting worse and we had BETTER get ready!  I'm preparing by building a NETWORK--a financial co-op of people who see what's coming and are connecting others who see it. ...Dennis

Treasury Ran $98 Billion Deficit in July--But Debt Stayed Exactly $16,699,396,000,000 -

(CNSNews.com) - The Treasury Department's Financial Management Service (FMS), which publishes both the federal government's official Daily Treasury Statement and its official Monthly Treasury Statement, is reporting that in July the federal government ran a deficit of $98 billion but that the federal government's debt remained exactly $16,699,396,000,000 for the entire month.

The FMS said that the deficit went up $98 billion ($97,594,000,000) in the Monthly Treasury Statment for July, which it released on Monday.

At the same time, the FMS said the debt stayed at exactly $16,699,396,000,000 in its Daily Treasury Statements, which are published every business day. The Daily Treasury Statements show the daily value of the federal government debt that is subject to a legal limit set by Congress.

At the static $16,699,396,000,000 level that the Treasury reported for every day of July, the debt was just $25 million below the legal limit of $16,699,421,000,000 that was set in a law passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama.

If Treasury's daily statements were to declare that the government had borrowed an additional net $98 billion to cover the $98 billion deficit the Treasury declared in its monthly statement for July, the Treasury would be conceding that the government had already surpassed the legal limit on the debt--and has been violating the law by continuing to borrowing additional money.

Instead, even as the Treasury was running up the $98-billion deficit it reported in the July Monthly Treasury Statement, every one of the 22 Daily Treasury Statements published for July said the Treasury had closed out the previous business day with exactly $16,699,396,000,000 in debt.

The Daily Treasury Statement for Aug. 12, released Tuesday afternoon, says the debt remained stuck at exactly $16,699,396,000,000 during the first 12 days of this month, too.

On May 17, the first day the Treasury reported that the debt had hit exactly $16,699,396,000,000--and was thus just $25 million below the legal limit--Treasury Secretary Lew sent a letter to House Speaker John Boehner saying he was beginning to implement what he called "the standard set of extraordinary measures" to prevent the Treasury from exceeding the legal limit on the federal debt.

Since Lew sent that letter--announcing that he would use "extraordinary measures"--the debt has remained stuck at exactly $16,699,396,000,000 for 87 straight days.

That includes all 31 days in July when Lew's Treasury says it was running a $98 billion deficit.

When Lew stops using "extraordinary measures" to keep the debt at exactly $16,699,396,000,000, the government will have another debt-limit crisis.

- See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/treasury-ran-98-billion-deficit-july-debt-stayed-exactly-16699396000000#sthash.DGvEp39z.dpuf

How Would You Answer?

Union Businesses, Grocery Stores, Colleges All Say Employee Hours Being Cut...

It's not just fast-food workers whose hours are being cut to part-time.  Now it's businesses all across the spectrum, including discount stores, grocery stores and 250 college professors at one university!  Do you HEAR the winds of change blowing?...Dennis

NBC News contacted around 20 small businesses and other entities for this report and found that employee hours are being cut to 29 hours because of Obamacare, despite the delay of the employer mandate. 

NEW Retirement Strategy...Work Longer ON YOUR OWN TERMS

Here's an interesting article from Entrepreneur which highlights a few things about Boomers based on a recent survey by AARP, in which they found that Boomers that are self-employed in their 40s or 50s may spend nearly 20 years working for themselves.  Wow...in 20 years you could amass a fortune in our business if you work it correctly! ...Dennis

Boomers Turn to Entrepreneurship as New Retirement Strategy

There is one way to avoid outliving your money: Work longer, on your own terms.

You may not want to or be able to retire at 65 or 67, but so what. If you're doing work you enjoy in your own business, setting your own schedule, fulfilling goals you've set yourself -- it may not even feel like work. Pursuing their professional dreams while working for themselves has enabled many older self-employed workers to secure their financial future.

A recent survey by AARP found 10 percent of workers ages 45 to 74 plan to start a business and 15 percent workers in this age range are already self-employed. Some start a business due to a job loss, others had already retired but weren't ready to fully stop working. On average, self-employed workers in their 40s or 50s may spend nearly two decades working for themselves, the AARP study found.

FULL STORY:

Say Goodbye to the U.S. Economy?

Rising economic problems for the middle-class, dwindling wages, and increased costs of living are real FACTS that we have to face. Most people want to bury their heads in the sand and not talk about it (other than to complain).  NOT US. We are out to change our futures by controlling our income! ...Dennis

Why we can kiss the US economy goodbye

By Wayne Allyn Root  

Published August 05, 2013

FoxNews.com

I don’t mean to say, “I told you so.” But I told you so.

In my latest book, “The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide: How to Survive, Thrive, and Prosper During Obamageddon” I listed hundreds of statistics proving that the U.S. economy was headed for total collapse. But that was all written months ago. Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.

The results are in. The picture is grim. Here are some frightening economic numbers to think about the next time the lying, manipulating, mainstream media tells you that we are in “recovery.”

First, almost 50% of Americans have less than $500 in savings. Not surprisingly 1 out of 3 residents of Obama’s home state of Illinois live in poverty. A mind numbing 4 of 5 Americans are either experiencing poverty, foreclosure or welfare, or will in their lifetime. Four out of five.Say goodbye to the myth of the American Dream. It’s only a nightmare now.

Ditto for the American middle class. Obama has massacred them. Our middle class now ranks 27^thin the world. 

I’ve argued from day one that Obama’s goal was to create a two class society. The two classes are the super-rich (who are beholden to Obama for corporate welfare, bailouts, and government contracts), and the poor (who are beholden to Obama for checks to survive). Look no further than the new immigration bill to see the final destruction of middle class wages.

More grim news just in: Auto sales are collapsing. Construction jobs are falling off a cliff. And U.S. factory orders just suffered the biggest drop in a year.

What about jobs? Isn’t that picture getting rosier by the minute? 

Well actually, no. Let’s analyze the REAL numbers: 

Since the start of 2013 we’ve gained 953,000 jobs, but amazingly 731,000 of them are crummy low-wage part time jobs. That means almost 80% of the jobs created in Obama's America are part-time jobs that won’t pay the bills of an average middle class lifestyle.

Still not convinced? 

Food stamp rolls are growing seventy-five times as fast as employment. The national debt has increased by 50% under Barack Obama. Obama promised to reduce health insurance bills for an average American family by $2,500 per year, instead your health bills went up by $3,000 per year. 

Meanwhile, labor participation by men is at the lowest rate ever measured – since they started tracking it in 1948. And here’s the clincher: 90 million able-bodied, working-age Americans are not working.

One last morsel of food for thought: The EU is in the middle of a Great Depression. Countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Greece and Cyprus face total disaster. Their economies are ruined for generations to come. 

Yet America under Obama now has more debt than every country in the European Union-combined. Our country has more government debt than any country in the history of the world.

Say goodbye to the U.S. economy. It’s been nice while it lasted.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/08/05/why-can-kiss-us-economy-goodbye/#ixzz2bPkxK9fi