There are alot of people not shown in the unemployment numbers and alot of already employed people looking for second jobs.

My son can't even get a job at a fast food place

for a captive audience. There's no sailing west anymore.

Couple that mentality with the creation of an unworthy unemployed underclass that can't dig themselves out of the hole once they fall in, and you've got a winning combination.

Fear is the most effective mechanism for keeping people in line and obedient - especially the fear of being put in a predicament that you will never be able to get out of.

Financially through a bidding process or a on the job competition, assuming all are qualified for the position.

Sort of like "The Hunger Games."

Sometimes I wonder if US corporate policy isn't to deliberately drive down wages - and they do seem to always get a lot of attention from the government.

This is exactly what is happening.

Plus machines.

You can always hire one half of the poor to kill the other half.

I am a 30+ year computer engineer with a specialty in security issues. I have been out of work for 6 months because no-one apparently needs my particular set of skills.

I have been creating an ISO 29147/30111-compliant organization for my previous employer for the last few years. In as few words as possible that means: I'm a support person with an engineering background who can manage customer-perceived crises.

If anyone is in a position to recommend me to a hiring manager, I'd be grateful for the referral.

I Live in Silicon Valley, CA and I am not willing to relocate.

As at least 5/8ths of those jobs are minimum wage delivery, retail or food service jobs.
A single adult can't even make ends meet - have shelter, regular food, access to transportation and basic services - with just one of those minimum wage jobs. An adult with even one dependant to support (or living needs for more than scoring a $200 a month rent-sharing arrangement of one 10 x 10 room to plop a mattress and a rubber-maid storage box) needs at least two or three jobs.
So I'd estimate that for the lower wage jobs, if 3.1 are applying for it, there's a 70% chance that one of those 3 applicants is looking for another full time job to supplement a job they already have - or need a job to supplement their retirement income if they're in their 70's.

That's another thing to consider when looking at people who are looking for work - there's an employment bottleneck at the bottom. People aren't moving on and allowing jobs to open up for people behind them who are entering the job market or may need to start over.

While one or two of ten of the above-mentioned 70-year-olds looking for work may be in the job market because they feel the need to keep busy, those numbers are far less than the 70-year olds who are trying to find work because there's little or nothing left of pensions, 401Ks, or social security after they pay for housing, utilities, and medicine at the beginning of the month, and they're either too frail or not crafty enough to make do with swap-meet or independent home business work.

Yes, grandma and grandpa might be a kick-ass carpenter / mechanic / cook / sewer / artist / editor / accountant - but either they can't put out enough product to sell on a regular basis to pay the bills, or there are not enough "jobs" out there to warrant starting a home business and paying the local licensing fees. Just as there might not be enough work, time, or resources to produce items to sell or potential customers in the local for the stay-at-home or unemployed adult who might be wanting to strike out on their own.
For example - my 75-year old widowed mother is a great cook, has a good sized kitchen with lots of storage, and an extra freezer, and is healthy enough to cater at least one 5-course spread for a party of up to 20 a day - something that she could quickly start up as "a business" for friends or post as a party service at the local community center, coffee shops, or mega-grocery store if she needed a little extra money over the holiday season.
But if something happened to her pension and she was left to live off her Social Security and survivor's benefits from dad, she most likely can't make enough of a living off that skill to pay the bills the pension pays, because being able to cook and serve a meal for twenty occasionally during the week, or can lots of jam off her backyard apricot trees (if she gets a good harvest) to sell at the swap meet or farmer's market is not the same as running a catering business or starting a food production business that require a high volume of sales.
She'd have to take in borders or try something like a pet-sitting or unlicensed baby-sitting service to pay outstanding bills or get regular food, and none of which is really safe or steady income option for a single elderly woman.

From experience (my own and that of several rent-mates in the past), when one is in times of financial crisis, it's extremely difficult to start a business that will be able to continue past three to six months.

It is far more efficient to be working a regular job that will leave, after all bills are paid, one with enough resources to augment that time and effort that is required to get everything in order before one can successfully embark on a business that will be able to support them.

Haele