It seems I didn't miss a lot. There were no earth-shattering news events over the weekend, leaving time for a little yard work in the heat and a little relaxation with my wife. Oh — and a quick trip to Chapel Hill to help our daughter continue unpacking from her move.
At the end of last week, the state released unemployment figures for May: 13.6 percent of the Wilson County work force is unemployed. The Wilson Times reports that the county's jobless rate has not been so high since the 1990s, peaking above 14 percent in 1993. Because unemployment is known as a trailing economic indicator — i.e., rehiring doesn't begin until after the economy has turned around — you have to wonder whether the jobless rate has peaked. Although there are some glimmers of hope in the economic numbers, there has been no clear evidence of a sustained upswing. It's conceivable that Wilson County's jobless rate could rise further, maybe even reaching 15 percent (a level already reached in neighboring Edgecombe County) before this is all over.
Scotland County, where my daughter lived until this month, again leads the state in unemployment with a rate of 17.2 percent. That number is approaching the jobless rate in the Great Depression. Although no reliable figures are available, it has been estimated that unemployment during the 1930s ran around 25 percent. My parents, who grew to maturity during the Depression, used to wistfully recall the days when "nobody had any money."
Modern unemployment statistics are known to underestimate the true level of unemployment. The official unemployment figures each month count the number of people who are out of work and actively looking for jobs. (Look at me: I'm a statistic!) But there are others who have given up on finding a job or who have settled for less of a job than they wanted and were qualified to hold. During a prolonged downturn like this, many frustrated unemployed workers give up on "finding" a job and decide to "create" one by going into business for themselves. That's viable for many people, but few new businesses turn a profit at the outset, so the unemployed-turned-entrepreneurs often face months, even years, of struggling through little or no income as they try to get their new businesses off the ground. And the failure rate for new businesses is daunting — as high as 60 percent or more, depending on how the rate is measured — so entrepreneuring can be tougher than job hunting. And any new business started in this economy is born with a severe handicap.
I'm now nine months into my life of unemployment, a stretch many times longer than I had ever imagined. This experience has given me a new empathy for the people behind the unemployment statistics and a new appreciation for unemployment insurance. I'm still in the market, still looking for that new career that will give shape to my weekdays and a new mission to my labors. I'm looking for my new vocation, a term rooted in the Latin word voca, or voice. A vocation is a calling, and, like millions of other people behind the statistics, I'm waiting to hear from mine.
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1 comment:
In Wilson, some people don't even have to look for work. Jobs are handed to them.
It's who you know, not what you know. If there's taxpayer monies to be had, they'll even create a job for you. If you have the right connections that is.
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