Friday, February 12, 2010

People Like Us

The powers that be, so far, can be credited with the fairly generous COBRA subsidy and unemployment benefit extensions, but the lack of sense of urgency about unemployment is due in large part to the fact that it's mostly hitting lower income individuals.

According to a study from Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Studies, unemployment for those in the top income decile–individuals earning more than $150,000 a year–was 3% in the fourth quarter of 2009. That compares with unemployment of 31% for the bottom 10% of income, and unemployment of 9% for the middle decile.

The differing rates of underemployment–including those working part-time for economic reasons–are also notable. Underemployment for the top 10% was 1.6%, while the bottom was 21%.

In other words, the top 10% is experiencing what economists would consider full employment.