Phrases such as "no unemployed candidates will be considered" and "must be currently employed" are now peppering job postings and want ads. This has the EEOC concerned that such policies likely will have a disparate impact on minorities.

Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, testified that the trend was unfair to applicants because “it potentially violates basic civil rights protections because of the disparate impact” on various population groups that have higher unemployment rates than average.

indeed, statistics show that Latins have a 50-percent higher unemployment rate than whites and that the unemployment rate for African-Americans is twice that of whites.

In a written statement after the event, EEOC Chair Jacqueline Berrien said:

“Throughout its 45 year history, the EEOC has identified and remedied discrimination in hiring and remains committed to ensuring job applicants are treated fairly. Today’s meeting gave the commission an important opportunity to learn about the emerging practice of excluding unemployed persons from applicant pools.”

With discrimination filings reaching record levels at the EEOC, employers must be cautious in all policy decisions regarding employees and applicants. Though it is a not-well-concealed secret that many employers wish to see only employed job applicants, it is also imperative to observe all applicable anti-discrimination laws and regulations.

Personnel Concepts'  EEO Compliance Program will help businesses formulate a strong equal employment opportunity policy that will keep them in compliance with relevant anti-discrimination laws and regulations.

What I’m referring to is the black market that developed in response to the recession, which has become a major source of income for the unemployed.

Also, a spate of labor laws make it easier for people to be unemployed in Europe (while offering almost no chance for advancement or career change during normal times).

So, if you want to know our future under Obama, read “Spain Largely Avoids Unrest Even as Economy Slumps.”

Yup, North Dakota has evidently managed to live both frugally and well to survive and prosper in our current economic turmoil. Hats off to you, North Dakotans. (But if you’re seeking work, your best bet still is Obamaland, which is on a hiring binge–or orgy–following the trillions of dollars in conjured money flooding the place.)

But do you know which state has the highest unemployment (hint: it ain’t California)?

Go to this interactive unemployment map and find the answer.

As the accompanying graphic from Shadow Stats shows, what the media report is called the U3 unemployment rate–the officially unemployed shown on the bottom red line. When you add in “discouraged” and “marginally attached” workers, you get the middle line on the graph, which is trending toward 14 percent. Throw in areas that the Bureau of Labor Statistics doesn’t even consider–unemployed farm workers, the idle self-employed, and home workers–and you’re up to 18 percent on the top blue line.

That’s how I got my rather startling title for this post.

All told, 48 percent of U.S. companies downsized in 2008, and a whopping 60 percent are planning reductions in 2009, according to a Society of Human Resource Management survey.

Economists predict a total of 1.5 million to 2 million or more jobs will vanish in 2009, and the “official” unemployment rate could hit 9 to 10 percent, underscoring the challenges that new U.S. President Barack Obama will face and the tough road ahead for job seekers.

In this light, it’s notable that fully 40 percent of the 693,000 who lost their jobs in the latest ADP report (November-December 2008) were from small businesses.

Arthur Bruzzone, a former California state commissioner, frequent columnist and native of the city, writes that San Francisco is really courting disaster with its minimum wage of $9.79 (one of two cities with minimum wages above $9). Team that new rate with mandates to provide health care, paid sick days and transportation assistance, and you can see that City by the Bay small businesses are headhunting–counting heads to chop off the payroll, that is.

In “City Hall’s ‘progressive’ small business mandates will now exact pain,” Bruzzone writes:

City Hall is responsible for bleeding San Francisco’s small businesses. Now the City Hall’s progressive initiatives will bring real pain to thousands of San Franciscans. Of course, those who keep their jobs will have sick leave, health care, higher hourly wages. But what of those who have no job?

Another in a series on the unintended (but foreseeable) consequences of good intentions.

Be that as it may, the piece is called “Meltdown 101: Unemployment by the numbers,” and it starts off by factoring in categories of unemployed and underemployed that the “official” figures excludes and comes up with a total unemployment rate for December 2008 of 21 million people, or 13.5 percent unemployed. That’s compared to the official rate of 7.2 percent, or 11.1 million.

If you want more details on how that figure was pieced together, just hit the hot link above, but what I personally found most interesting was a breakdown of unemployment by category, to wit:

DECEMBER UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BY GROUP:

7.2 percent: Adult men
5.9 percent: Adult women
9.5 percent: Female heads of households
5.1 percent: Asians
6.6 percent: Whites
9.2 percent: Hispanics
11.9 percent: Blacks
20.8 percent: Teenagers
15.3 percent: Construction workers
17 percent: Agriculture workers
2.3 percent: Government workers

There is a wealth of other statistics and information available, so hit the ol’ hot link above. When I finally read to the end of the article, I realized that it had been taken from AP (without permission?) and was written by AP Business Writer Ellen Simon.

To wit:

Under federal unemployment rules that are being changed Jan. 6, 2009, a worker who drew wages from jobs in two or more states could choose ANY STATE from which to claim the benefits. The smart ones all opted, evidently, for Massachusetts, which pays the highest unemployment sum in the nation at $628 a week plus $25 for each dependent.

Come the New Year plus a few days, however, and new rules will force the unemployed to seek unemployment checks only from states in which they’ve actually worked.

Massachusetts officials must be breathing easier.

That’s why, when one surveys the pain going around in 2008, it’s illustrative that 1.1 million men have lost their jobs this year while their female counterparts are enjoying a net gain of 12,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department.

Factory jobs are disappearing, and being robotized and mechanized, while Information Age jobs are growing.  We mustn’t overlook the health care sector either.  That was the source of 400,000 new jobs for women this year alone.

Anyway, you get the drift here.  As painful and unsettling as recessions are, they exist for a reason and ultimately lead to needed social and workforce changes.

It’s like the Chinese say when they want to curse you:  “May you live in interesting times.”