without insider-trading and that's kind of -- those kinds of things. i did not think it is any kind of conspiracy. host: gary, detroit, unemployed. caller: i am calling because in a city like detroit that is mostly compared to being the first ghost town in this century, what does the numbers that you show do for a city like detroit where jobs are not even scarce, they are invisible? i will take my answer off line. host: what are you of and foia from? when did you last word? caller: leader not, five years ago. host: auto company? caller: no, construction. host: any signs of rebound? caller: in detroit, the only thing i see more of our police

officers in the neighborhood. that might be a good thing because they are harvesting people that have no jobs to go to. and there are any jobs, they are so far out into the suburbs to where i dare you need transportation, and most of the bus systems stop running after certain hours in this area. guest: that is a good question. i think you put your finger on a problem. i grew up in philadelphia, and philadelphia, although not as bad as detroit, definitely has this same long-term chronic unemployment. it is a tough nut to crack in washington. there are some people on the left who are interested in seeing programs of tax credits, to kind of help businesses hire workers or even suggestions of

paying workers the same wage but they will work less hours so that somebody else can work some hours. that is a thought. there is also thoughts about education. but i think that is definitely an area that needs more government and policymakers to look at, for sure. host: did you see in the numbers -- is a broken-down regionally? guest: no, this is a national report. they do come out later in the month with state-by-state breakdowns and city breakdowns. but this is a really good report to look at how the national economy is doing. host: it is available at c- span.org, in case you want to see it. chicago, curtis, a democrat. caller: i want to ask a question. the question is this. looking at the full year outlook in terms of unemployment, how would be for college students?

we always knew electronics and engineering was a great skill to work in. what about the market and that? -- in that? will that -- there be employment for them? host: are you a college student? caller: no, actually my son is going to college and and and of the year and i'm concerned about him if he is going to study a trade -- i do want him to be employed in four years instead of out working for a part-time job. guest: i think if your son does attend college, he will definitely have a leg up. i think people with college degrees are doing much better in this economy than people with high school degrees or wood -- -- degrees or ged i think there will be a lot of opportunities in college.

it is hard to know six months out. so four. -- four years out is a pretty long time. i would think that he is probably in a pretty good place. host: i see this report is broken down by age. is it also broken down -- and sex. is it also broken down by degree or field at all? guest: i have not gone through what that way that much, but i think it is broken down that way. the new thing the added was sex. there is a lot more information since the beginning of the year on female unemployment and trends in that sector. host: how does it compare, men and women? guest: it is something that wall street does not pay much attention to, so i did not put it in my report. i have a colleague who will kill me who covers issues of women in the work force. but it is in the numbers and you can get a good sense of it. host: why does wall street care

about average work week? guest: that is very important in terms of just to get a sense about our factories humming, are the factories working and are the people producing goods that are going to be sold? it is a really good gauge of activity. host: atlanta, allan, republican. caller: i believe there is a large, huge sector of people who i do not believe is being counted. the 1099 employee. which i guess contradictive -- contradiction in terms. i was laid off a year ago. and i worked in every sense of the word as a regular and employee but i was classified as independent contractor. are those people being counted in the unemployment numbers?

guest: a very good question, and i wish i knew the answer. i will have to do some more work on that. i definitely hear a lot of times from people that they believe the numbers are undercounted, sort of sweet and that somehow to make the picture -- but i think the picture is not looking good. it is not a sense of the government trying to move all of the numbers. the labor market is in a tough spot, a tough recession, and a tough recession for workers. host: greg robb cover the sec for "the new york times" and worked for open "the financial times." what is marketwatch? guest: it is a free site to cover wall street and financial news. it is a good place to follow stocks of the u.s. and global economy.

it used to be part of cbs. it was called cbs market watch, and cbs sold its stake to dow jones and we were bought -- part of news corp. when rupert murdoch bought -- host: you are bought -- now part of the dow jones/wall street journal group. california, very, independent. caller: the question i have is, are they doing any studies on the length and which people have been unemployed? it seems to me my perception is this, the figures are two dimensional and lack a third element. we have people, never in their lifetime, are being unemployment for a longer length of time and i am just wondering, do any of the numbers take into play the corrosive effects it can have on

society in which you have huge amounts of really skilled, talented people? guest: that is right, we have been talking all morning about the statistics, a record number of people unemployed for more than six months. a real good story in "the wall street journal" on this topic this morning. it is getting attention from policy makers. host: for logger there'll -- ford lauderdale, florida. frank, unemployed. caller: one of the things i have been looking at right now. i'm unemployed about eight years. i was 56 when i lost my job with a large electronics firm that lost about 50,000 jobs, over all in the 2001-2002 period. i wonder if manufacturing and manufacturing-related activities

like engineering and research are going to improve. i have gone to top -- college since then to get back into the group, but i am going to be 64 years old next month. so, some of the affects -- has hit me in several different ways. one of the things i am looking into. there are personal things in my life -- the way my father has died and everything, but also factored into it. i don't want to get into that that much. guest: the manufacturing sector in the economy was really decimated and recession and has been kind of on the map. as i was saying earlier, since last summer, it has actually been the best performing sector -- one of the best performing sectors in the economy. there is a lot of reason for that. it is hard to know whether it

will be sustainable. but for now the manufacturing sector does seem to be doing well. host: alternative gauge that includes discourage workers and those forced to work part-time rose to 16.9%, from 16.8%. guest: not a very good worker -- number. host: but talking about a fifth of the workforce that are unemployed, underemployed, were discovered that we don't know about? guest: not that we don't know about them. but this recession has really been kind of a big, strong hit to american workers. host: illinois, jane, republican line. caller: how much of our unemployment problem is hard- core and directly relates to our education problem, health care,

and drug use? who wants to hire someone who can't read, weighs 300 pounds, or uses drugs? my husband was in business a long time ago and in manufacturing cannot find anybody who can pass a drug test? is anyone bisecting the numbers to look back? guest: there is a sense an economic policy matters, that education is the key to the work force and the labor force going forward. definitely need workers that are well trained. because there will be competition coming from all around the world. i think that is on the radar. the problem is that, as the caller from detroit this thing, it is kind of a generational thing. it is not a quick fix. host: average hourly earnings of all the employees of private non-farm payrolls fell by 2

cents -- is this seasonal? guest: i think it is seasonally adjusted and it is the first time happening since the records were started in 2006. and it is another sign that workers to even have jobs are not going to their employers and looking for wages. host: the stock market is the highest it has been an over a year and a half or so. car sales are up 30%. of those indicators also we should keep in mind when looking at the national economy? guest: yes, they are factors you should keep in mind that you should always way things with a grain of salt. although the stock market is a leading indicator sometimes -- so there might be a sense that just the recovery is gaining steam. but we will have to see. don't bet your house on it. host: jim, boston,

massachusetts, democrats. caller: good morning. i'm calling in reference to what the company that i used to work for did was reduced full time and please and hired part-time to reduce operational costs and had part-time employees working many more hours -- more than 32 or whatever. the american workers produce more and work longer hours and produce more than many other countries and will world but what they do as a reward is get laid off for a part-time people. i know more government is not a real positive thing right now with a lot of people, but if the companies are not going to police themselves -- what is the government going to have to do

to stop something like this for happening? guest: i'm glad you brought up. worker productivity is definitely a big part of the whole story, the big picture. everybody knows that you are being asked to do more work than you used to. and companies have really found the can get by with fewer workers. and if they continue to get by with fewer workers, that is keeping the unemployment rate high. one of the things i was talking about a little bit earlier, there are these innovative ideas for tax credits that would almost tried to make companies -- make workers less productive in the short term, so they can hire more workers so people can get more hours. but these ideas are kind of swimming upstream, like he said. but we will see what happens of the next couple of months. host: those wall street look at the long term unemployment issue or is it not a concern? guest: it is a tough question. i think wall street does look at

it in a sense that it is the overall health of the economy. you cannot have all of these millions of people unemployed, unemployment -- unproductive, not good for the economy, not good for wall street, not good for the people. host: charles from cleveland, good morning. please go ahead. caller: yes, sir. i'm 56 years old, unemployed, independence -- i guess your average american, at this age. i'm trying to figure out why i don't have a job. all of these foreign countries owe us money, we fought the communists, fought the socialists -- we all these guys money. a why don't we have jobs in america? guest: this is another good point. what we are seeing now, there is an election coming up in

november and there is sort of this rise of protectionism and blaming china and blaming foreign competitors for our woes. i think most of the economists i talk to really believe that free trade is a great thing for the u.s. and the world. but there is a sense that american workers are paying the price as the global economy adjusts. so it is a factor, for sure. host: there is an article this morning -- speaking of china -- hu jintao will be in washington at the summit of world leaders monday and tuesday. and whether or not they should float -- the you want? guest: yes. host: what is the status and what effect does it have on us? guest: many economists believe -- china has a fixed exchange

rate, and it is a controlled economy and one of the things the control is the exchange rate versus the dollar. many economists think there are many good reasons china should end this practice. as the dollar has fallen, the value of chinese imports to the united states have fallen and that allows more imports into the united states from china. there are a lot of pushes the rahm award for china to move away from this policy, but it is always in the front page of the papers. it is kind of unclear but it looks like the u.s. -- it is hard to know how the obama administration will handle it. whether they will make a big issue or pull back. the papers are saying today that because the leader of china is coming in applied -- implies the obama administration will take a softer approach. for workers around the country, if china moves its currency, it does not mean that detroit will

see more factories the next day. most of the factories that are in china will move to india or other regions around the world. he cannot -- the economics is just not simple. host: greg robb is our guest from marketwatch.com. christina rummer, this is her statement today. -- christina romer. interpret that for us. guest: for the administration, it is cautious optimism. they are cautiously optimistic things are getting better. but they are not declaring victory. some people i talk to think they should be better cheerleaders' than they are. but the obama administration has this sort of realistic cautious approach to things. they are saying, things are looking good, but let us wait for a couple of more months.

host: this is the closing -- therefore it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or negative. it is essential we continue our efforts to move into the right direction and generate steady, strong job growth. guest: this economic team in the obama administration seems to be fighting the last war. they want to be seen as realistic. they don't want to be seen as cheerleaders. so, that is kind of a realistic statement. remember, the unemployment rate has come down from 10.1% in october, and it might have peaked. but they don't want to be celebrating too much. host: glassboro, the jersey, victory, underemployed. caller: i am a fellow philadelphia, born and raised. my comment is i'm one of the underemployed. it seems like there is nothing here to protect us. we all need a job so we accept

the conditions under which we work. businesses are keeping us as part timers and 1099ing us, so we are not making enough money to get our feet on the ground and get ahead but we have to hold on. there is nothing in place to protect us. we don't have a voice, we can't speak, but we lose our jobs. in this environment this is what we have to expect. as you are saying, we are not counted in this report right now. but what is going back in -- there are laws that need to be enforced that protect workers in this way. guest: thank you for your comments. i think it is not too much of a surprise to anyone that labor market conditions seem to be tilted toward the company is -- workers are not quitting jobs to find new ones. that is what happens when times are tough. but if the economy improves, and the kind of get back to a

sustainable path, more people will have the ability to just quit their jobs a month for another one. host: greg robb, what is your headline story today? what are you going to write? guest: i will try to look and see if this is a game changer for the federal reserve and see if this moves people's sense about when the fed will start raising interest rates. host: not yet, but when questioned guest: it will be when they will do it. it is almost the good news story because that might mean the fed thinks the economy is kind of out of the woods. but my initial talk to people on the way over here, they think it was not strong enough to change people's minds about things and we will have to wait and see. host: what other reports to you keep an eye on every month? what other major reports the people awaits and get locked in a room for question of guest: there are about two dozen reports where you can get locked

in a room. some come from the private sector. from the government, maybe a dozen. employment is definitely the big enchilada, a call it. but there is gdp report, that measures the growth rate. that is a big one. host: when does that come out? guest: it comes out quarterly from the commerce department and they do -- you get locked in a safe for that one. kind of like high-school. you have a proctor. host: dundalk, maryland, ramona, a republican line. you are with greg robb from marketwatch.com. caller: you spoke the most truth this morning but i did not know the people will hear it. we contradict some much and we give out so much in words without facts behind it but you did say something really true.

education and the unions have put america where she is today and we keep trying to blame japan and china and all of the other nations. it is a global thing. but just think of it -- the unions, he already said -- big companies will not hire three people for one job like they had to years ago when the unions have the power and money to influence congress. the teachers' union destroyed education. you cannot even get rid of a bad teacher. and the first 12 years of school is babysitting. host: any comments from ramona? guest: ramona, i am proud union member and i think unions are important. they established the ground floor for worker rights. i don't think you can blame the troubles on the economy on unions. education -- i am with you on education. host: does the bls report,

doesn't talk about union membership at all? guest: i don't think it talked- about it. union membership in the economy is a fraction of what was coming out of world war ii, but i'm one of the rare union members and the service sector. host: which one are you in? guest: iapi -- it is called. caller: i want to make it, about the republican blaming the workers -- make a comment. here in michigan, there used to be fact -- 60 factories here and now there are hardly any and there ain't no jobs out there and a lot of people are not on drugs and educated that need jobs. i don't like the lady who made a comment about unions. unions made all of the benefits -- minimum-wage, it hour days,

social security and all of this came about by unions. host: thank you. we will move on to bedford, new jersey, maria. caller: i just want to ask his opinion of futility about getting any more training or education when congress and the president are not going to ever did any of the trade agreements. actively we could walk through fire and they will still be indemnified from losses. they make thousands of percent of profit and pay no taxes on it. so unless the american people speak up about these trade agreements, it is just another leech on all bill sammon and no one will get ahead and it is really a betrayal. guest: a couple of things. i think the administration is moving and congress is moving swiftly to try to put in education and training. i think that is definitely one

of their priorities, moving on that front. trade agreements -- i know this is a big debates -- big debate. economists and people i talk to -- i think trade, from by reporting, it is not a zero sum game. it helps when there is trade going on in the country. i think it is a net plus. although there are tough adjustments for people. host: sam from philadelphia. unemployed? what are you unemployed from? caller: construction. i have been working 25 years -- i have four sons in construction, two are working and the three of us have not worked for a year-and-a-half and unemployment is about to run out. pretty tough. thank god my wife works. she works for gmac mortgage co. and a service for a mac, fannie mae, wells fargo loans and what they do is they outsource everything to india, china.

gmac flew over about 500 indians, and it came to work where my wife works. the people training had to do their jobs. after a train them how to do the jobs they laid 5000 people off. all of the country, 5000 people. the indians get 900 rubles a month and they said the victim back to india -- and a lot of the loans are service outside of the united states. why don't they stop outsourcing everything? all that tax money they could have -- bag -- there would be a lot of work for the american people. guest: last night my computer crashed and i called up dell and i was talking to a guy from india for a couple of hours. i definitely think this is a trend. but i don't think it makes sense to build walls around the country. it is a tough thing, a tough lesson, but these are the adjustments.

we live in a global economy. i don't think it is going away. host: i know you look at it in more of a macro sense than some of the personal cases we have been hearing. does wall street's -- and i know you write about wall street also appeared those wall street care about the sams of the world and people would get outsourced and jobs that it outsourced? do the micro case is bother them? guest: speaking for myself personally, what i like to do when i write these stories and cover the economy is i like to explain to people these things that are happening. because they see it on the ground with their friends and their loved ones being laid off and a lot of times they don't understand it. growing up in philadelphia, i saw it firsthand when in the 1970's when the economy was just decimated and a lot of factory jobs went and they never came

back. marketwatch.com and what i like to do is try to explain it to people so they have a better understanding. what is good for wall street and what is good for main street, i think at the end of the day what is good for everybody is good for everybody. host: next call, maine, paula. caller: i have been unemployed since september. host: from what? caller: cleaning lady at a paper mill. up here people depend on the paper mill and they are very afraid that it closes. host: did it close? caller: no, i was fired, and it is very difficult to get a job when you are fired because you cannot just explain everything in an application. i was not employed by the mil