The Palm Beach post is reporting Suicide calls jump amid economic woes.
A local hot line has seen a dramatic spike in suicide calls from people in Palm Beach County who are facing foreclosure and can't pay their bills, according to numbers released today.
Since the start of the year, 256 people in the county told operators at the 211 hot line that they were thinking about suicide. Of those, 44 told operators that their main reason was that they had lost a job, were facing foreclosure, couldn't afford to pay their bills or were homeless.
During the same period in 2007, from Jan. 1 to June 10, the hot line received 137 suicide calls from people in Palm Beach County. Only 15 of those gave economic reasons.
The callers' problems seem markedly different than in the past, said Susan Buza, executive director of 211 Palm Beach/Treasure Coast. Many callers, she said, have tried to find work for months.
Buza said she began adding up the numbers after operators noticed a rise in calls from people who could lose their homes.
"When we started looking at it, we were really shocked," she said.
Bernanke should ask family members of those who commit suicide if the downturn has faded. Dpiking suicides are one thing I did not even think about in Things That Have Not Yet Happened.
One thing have have thought about a lot but failed to mention in that post was huge state budget cutbacks such as 20,000 Teacher Layoffs In California, real estate agents that have not had a sale for months, and pending massive layoffs in financial service industries at banks and brokerages.
Weekly Claims
There was yet another bad Weekly Unemployment Claims Report on Thursday.
In the week ending June 7, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 384,000, an increase of 25,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 359,000. The 4-week moving average was 371,500, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 369,000.
State Fiscal Budgets
States are aware that cutbacks have to be made. But they have delayed making them. Such is the nature of politicians. However, fiscal budgets for many states start in July. There will be a forced cutback in services (layoffs) or higher taxes or both. The situation is not pretty and it has not bottomed.
Monster Job Listings Plunge
Barron's is reporting Monster: Worrisome Falloff In May Job Listings.
The number of job listings on employment Web site Monster Worldwide (MNST) fell dramatically in May compared with a year earlier, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Jeetil Patel.
Patel says that U.S. job postings are down 18% on a year-over-year basis for the quarter to date, with a 21% drop in May. That’s worse than the 8% slide in April. Patel says the shrinking number of listings could pressure revenue and profits in the June quarter. He says revenue from the North American careers segment could be down 10% year-over-year in the quarter, well below the 4% decline he had been projecting.
While it's true that unemployment numbers are a lagging indicator. There has to be some chance of hitting bottom before taking the victory lap Bernanke is attempting to take. The odds of an economic rebound based on stimulus checks and other factors Bernanke is citing is close to zero.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
Why?
Just why? _________________ "There must be a bogeyman; there always is, and it cannot be something as esoteric as "resource depletion." You can't go to war with that." Emersonbiggins
"... hope is a rotten-thighed whore" Niko Kazantzakis
Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:40 pm Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
I was wondering what all those people over their heads in debt would do once the economey turns. Atleast they are making a logical choice
I'm sorry that is not true, it's not entirely these peoples fault, it's the government that had encouraged these people who are in the mess they are today. It's very sad what is happening, these people will lose *everything*, their home, there car etc etc. The only way out is to declare bankruptcy, lose your assets and start all over again and just hope your not a baby boomer just heading into retirement because that SS cheque won't be there. _________________
Man's like a candle in a candlestick,
Made up of tallow and a little wick;
Joined: May 18, 2006 Posts: 4389 Location: Minneapolis, MN
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 5:52 am Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
Quote:
The only way out is to declare bankruptcy, lose your assets and start all over again and just hope your not a baby boomer just heading into retirement because that SS cheque won't be there.
Joined: Jun 14, 2008 Posts: 81 Location: With one foot in ascent and the other in descent
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 11:55 am Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
Because we've been told for decades (especially the last 10) that we can live in a make-believe grow-forever world and that we can close our eyes to the truth safely, without being harmed.
Suddenly these folks are realizing that they should have been LBYM instead of partying hearty, and that they're screwed with no way out. Can you imagine the thud when that emotion hits bottom?
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 4:07 pm Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
Suicide is likely to be an evolutionary survival strategy. For most of our history we have lived in groups with our closest genetic relatives so our genetic inheritance is tightly bound to the survival of the group. The two groups of people who seem most vaulnrable to suicide are teens and single males over 30. I would hypothysise that in times of real hardship in the past these two groups who require alot of food yet have no children to look after would be the best candidates to die and let there brothers, sisters and cousins carry on the genetic line. So under the illusionary stress of not being able to afford a condo in Florida or whatever they become suicidal, a geneticaly inherited emotion for when the tribe was nearing its death from starvation.
One less mouth to feed then was good and the 'selfish gene' survived. Today in a broader scale perhaps this again is true in the most callous manner. Those who sit amounst the unparraled abundance of modern America and find themselves unhappy in a land where povery leads to diseases of obeasity are perhaps doing us a minor favour by leaving the gene pool.
A human tragidy but a genetic plus for a return to a world where hardship means skipping meals daily.
Joined: Dec 27, 2004 Posts: 12589 Location: zombie horde wonderland
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 5:05 pm Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
dorlomin wrote:
a geneticaly inherited emotion for when the tribe was nearing its death from starvation.
Keep in mind starvation is rare among hunter-gatherers, and that one cannot pass on a gene for dying if one dies. Dying genes are not adaptive.
"Low serum cholesterol levels and the absence of obesity could be interpreted as signs of chronic starvation, yet hunter-gatherers had higher daily caloric intake than Americans do and with much higher energy output. The normal activity levels associated with this high-through-put status produce high levels of aerobic and muscular fitness and contribute to the low prevalence rates of chronic degenerative diseases that hunter-gatherers generally exhibited.2"
Just one reference among many mentioning the high-calorie diet of hunter-gatherers. Going without meals is not a daily event. _________________ No original ideas are contained in this post.
Joined: Sep 25, 2004 Posts: 4548 Location: Boston, MA
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:04 pm Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
Well this is just sad. It's not surprising, but it's still sad.
People get so caught up in the material world that they lose track of what really matters in life.
There are a lot of innocent people that are getting hurt right now and it's going to get worse before it gets better.
This kind of story is going to pop up in more places as interest rates move back up to normal levels.
It's not hard to imagine the desperation that many people must be feeling right now as they lose everything they've spent their lives working for. _________________ "www.peakoil.com is the Myspace of the Apocalypse."
Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 7:21 pm Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
I think if I lost everything in Florida it would be an opportunity to head somewhere else. Why not take off down the road to the Keys, get a job in a restaurant?
Or head north for the summer, and see what the world offers?
It's easy to say that, because these people feel like the world is falling down around them. We might feel the same way if we were in their shoes. _________________ Deep in the mud and slime of things, even there, something sings.
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:32 am Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
Revi wrote:
I think if I lost everything in Florida it would be an opportunity to head somewhere else. Why not take off down the road to the Keys, get a job in a restaurant?
Or head north for the summer, and see what the world offers?
It's easy to say that, because these people feel like the world is falling down around them. We might feel the same way if we were in their shoes.
Yes, I think they probably feel overwhelmed and just don't see any options.
But you give good suggestions, Revi. Trying something different is an alternative to giving up, and I for one would be quick to try something different, given the choice between that and ending it all.
I think people who currently have their own business should think hard about whether their business will be viable as people's incomes shrink. When disposable income shrinks, the little luxuries will be the first to go. Actually, that applies to all types of employment, not just self-employment.
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
This is what happens when people are told:
"You only live once."
"Live life to the fullest."
"There is no God."
"He who has the most toys, wins."
These people need to be told the truth. Not only is there a God who loves them but He sent a Saviour who will redeem and give eternal life to all who come to Him.
Posted: Mon Jun 16, 2008 9:51 pm Post subject: Re: Mish: Hotline Suicide Calls Jump
POAlex wrote:
This is what happens when people are told:
"You only live once."
"Live life to the fullest."
"There is no God."
"He who has the most toys, wins."
(...)
Do you mean suicide or economic recessions? either way, I concur in 3 of 4 points. There are valid ways of being happy without adoring deities, and to some like me, it's happier not to adore deitites at all. _________________ anagami.net
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