What Color Is Your Parachute? (5 page)

But—and this is crucial—it is only a
net
figure computed once a month, at the end of the month, after all the dust has settled. Ah, and there’s the rub. A lot can happen
during
the month, in between the “soundings.” And does! To find out exactly
what,
the government
(fortunately for us)
maintains a site for exactly that purpose, which is cutely called “JOLT” (for
Job Openings & Labor Turnover
), and is to be found at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website at
www.bls.gov/jlt
.

Now, you’re probably not going to take the trouble to go there, so let me summarize for you what it has reported for the past twelve months (at this writing),
and
I’ll precede it, for each month, with the monthly “sounding,” traditionally called “The Monthly Unemployment Figure,” but as I mentioned earlier, should be called
“The Relative Size of the Employed U.S. Workforce.”
Okay, here goes:

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 726,000 people, since the end of the previous month. During the month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
4,360,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 3,006,000 vacancies remained unfilled.

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 753,000 people, since the end of the previous month. During the month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
4,172,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 2,717,000 vacancies remained unfilled.

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 528,000 people, since the previous month. During the
month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
4,099,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 2,633,000 vacancies remained unfilled.

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 387,000 people, since the previous month. During the month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
3,980,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 2,554,000 vacancies remained unfilled.

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 515,000 people, since the previous month. During the month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
3,776,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 2,558,000 vacancies remained unfilled.

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 346,000 people, since the previous month. During the month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
4,059,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 2,392,000 vacancies remained unfilled.

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 212,000 people, since the previous month. During the month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
4,029,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 2,387,000 vacancies remained unfilled.

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 225,000 people, since the previous month. During the month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
4,010,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 2,480,000 vacancies remained unfilled.

By the end of that month, the overall size of the employed U.S. Workforce had shrunk by 224,000 people, since the previous month. During the month, jobs were lost, jobs were found, but the
net
change at the end of the month was the figure above.

But as JOLT reported, during that month
3,966,000 people found jobs
.

And at the end of that month, 2,506,000 vacancies remained unfilled.