x
Breaking News
More () »

Underemployment remains a challenge despite low unemployment numbers

"If you're someone like myself who has a master's degree or a college education, the jobs are not there."
St. Louis Career Fair July 19 at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel-Westport

St. Louis — ST. LOUIS — During Vice President Mike Pence’s 30-minute speech in downtown St. Louis Thursday, he touted tax cuts and job creation since President Donald Trump took office.

“Confidence is back, jobs are coming back, in a word, America is back,” said Pence, who told the audience at the St. Louis Marriott Grand Hotel that a typical family of four would save roughly $2600 a year thanks to recent tax cuts.

If you’re struggling to find a job with a decent salary and benefits, it doesn’t matter much when government officials talk about how great the job market is. Sidney Clark is an acquisition casualty.

The Olivette councilman worked for 18 years for a company that was recently bought by another, and Clark was let go. That’s what brought him to the career fair at the Doubletree Hotel in Westport Thursday.

“Everyone wants to talk about how the job market is so great right now and unemployment is so good,” said Clark. “Yeah, that might be true for somebody that is 30 years of age or younger, single with no kids. If you’re someone like myself who has a master’s degree or a college education, the jobs are not there.”

Adelaide Cord attended the same career fair, where companies like Enterprise, Waffle House, AAA, and Spectrum conducted employment interviews. Cord finds herself underemployed, working but not earning enough to pay her bills. With a 10-month-old baby girl, Cord is uncertain about her employment future.

“I was in college before I got pregnant and I dropped out for a different pursuit, so I’m trying to go back, but like I said, I can’t have a job, and go to school, and still provide for her, so I’m trying to get a better job which is hard when you don’t have the schooling to do so,” said Cord.

The current unemployment rate of four percent, down from 10 percent at the height of the Great Depression, sounds great. But it doesn’t account for people who are underemployed, involuntarily working part-time, or overqualified for many job openings.

Small business owner Pat Richards has run Embroider the Occasion in Webster Groves for 14 years. She said the recent tax cuts allowed her to give wage increases to her employees. But Richards laments the fact that most of her employees are part-time because she can’t afford to pay for their benefits.

“Our insurance, our payroll, our rents, our cost of goods, our wages, everything has skyrocketed,” said Richards. “So that little bit of ‘hey, guess what we’re going to do for you?’, it’s a drop in the ocean.”

Before You Leave, Check This Out