For Immediate Release

The January unemployment figures have been released. We believe that they will be slightly lower than before, and that the Obama Administration will be using this to say that their policies are working. However, there is a deeper truth to the matter.

The December 2010 unemployment figures, set at 9.4%, are grossly underestimated. The unemployment rate in the United States is calculated not by the amount of people who are able-bodied and out of work, but rather by those who are collecting unemployment insurance. As such, once someone has exhausted their benefits, they magically become employed. This rate also does not count those who are under-employed, that is to say those workers who are working part-time but should be working full-time. It also does not count as unemployed those workers who are working jobs far beneath their actual skill set or educational level.

With the election of many Republicans, most of whom are Tea Klux-Klaners, it is likely that the U.S. House of Representatives will attempt to cut the unemployment benefit package this year. After all, it is a cornerstone of their “Cut-Go” strategy.

Naturally, this will have reverberating effects across the economy. Those who are currently using their benefits to pay their bills and buy food will suddenly have nothing. Those who relied on the spending of those benefits will likewise face either a reduction of hours or unemployment.

The American Party of Labor understands that unless the working people of this country rise up, and seize the machinery of the state and the economy it is impossible for every worker to be guaranteed their social right to full gainful employment at a livable income.

Categories: Economic Exploitation, Economy, Labor, Statements, U.S. News, Workers Struggle