Open Thread for Night Owls, Early Birds & Ex-Pats

A year ago, the unemployment rate was 1.4% better than it is now, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Now, it's at a five-year high. Mister Bush is "disappointed." The expectation was a loss of 75,000 jobs in August, but it turned out to be 84,000 instead.

Since January, 605,000 American jobs have been lost. These numbers only have limited utility, of course. Because discouraged workers who aren't actively seeking work, are counted as neither employed or unemployed. They live as phantoms.

Here, from the estimable economist Brad DeLong, is something a little more inclusive in that it covers:

Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers...

The unemployment figures are made worse by the housing situation.

Scott Duke Harris and Sue McAllister at the Mercury News wrote:

Meanwhile, a greater portion of homeowners nationwide fell behind on their mortgage payments in the second quarter than during any quarter on record, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday. Nationally, a seasonally adjusted 6.41 percent of residential mortgages were delinquent, or at least 30 days overdue.

In California, 5.78 percent of residential mortgages were overdue at the end of the quarter, up from 5.25 percent in the previous quarter. California ranked 26th for delinquent loans but third for new foreclosures initiated, with 1.82 percent of residential loans entering foreclosure in the second quarter. Typically, lenders do not begin foreclosure proceedings until borrowers have missed a few monthly payments.

More foreclosures and loans harder to get means falling housing prices, but still few buyers. Fewer sales, of course, means less new construction, which means fewer construction jobs and fewer jobs all the way up the housing market chain. That spiral could put unemployment at the 7% level as early as January, according to Peter Morici, a University of Maryland professor with a record for accurate predictions. 7% being, as mentioned, not the quite the real story.

The Overnight News Digest is posted, including the story, CNBC host praises Palin for 'putting a skirt on': 'I want her laying next to me in bed.'.