Watching the Sunday morning news shows, I was surprised by the little attention paid to yet another substantial rise in the US unemployment numbers from 9.4% to 9.7%. As such a drop is bound to affect adversely affect the American consumer based economy not to mention the human suffering it generates, the general equanimity with which pundits assert that the recession is over cannot be explained merely by the wish to"help the president."

The amazing stock market rise does provide part of the pxplanation, but the limited affect the recent unemployment has on college graduates,may be the real culprit. The August American labor picture reveals that unemployment for college graduates is still a mere 4.7%! As economists usually consider anything between 2%-7% full employment and as vast majority of the children and grandchildren of the chattering classes are at least college graduates it seems obvious that the current rise in unemployment is yet to affect them or their friends personally. It should also be remembered that the large governmental sector in which so many of their young' ems find employment, has not only not shrunk but expanded with the help of the"stimulus" money, of course.

Hence, while high school drop outs struggle with a 15.6% unemployment, high school graduates with 9.7% and those with some college 8.2% unemployment, the real upset for the elites came from the drop in the stock market and the recent jump in that market, not has calmed them down considerably. Indeed, their wish to expand government further by taking over health care can also be explained partially by the wish to secure additional jobs for their children and grandchildren. After all, the more government jobs, the more jobs for well connected elites, i.e., Obama supporters.

Ironically, since Blacks have the lowest percentage of college graduates, only the Van Joneses of this world, benefited from the Obama presidency. Unemployment amongst Blacks is 15.1%. Nor do Hispanics fare much better. They have an unemployment rate of 13%. Whites have an 8.9% unemployment. Who does best? Asians. Their unemployment rate is the relatively low 7.5% and it alone amongst all group dropped last month by 0.8%. Indeed, a Chinese IT specialist I know, was notified a couple of months ago that the company for which he was working is shutting it's door. He was most concerned as he is here on an H-IB visa which expires with the job.

I need not have worried, he was soon fielding offers from a number of states including California. A top college even offered him a full Ph.D. fellowship despite the fact that the application period has long expired. He starts his new job next week. A week end was all he had to move from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.

Yes, he had to move and, perhaps, a better job market would have protected him from that necessity. As he is a young single man, such move is not too onerous. At least not enough to consider returning to Communist China regardless of the tempting opportunities that would be available to him there. He, unlike many members of the American elite, still appreciate liberty. That is the reason that while the economic downturn caused the number of college applicants from India and South Korea to drop, the number of applicants from China rose by 14%!

I am sure other college educated persons are less foot loose and their professions less in demand. Still, when considering the elite's response to the current economic downturn, it is disingenuous to ignore the vast differences in the effect it has on Obama's two Americas.

The Economist reports on a similar international phenomenon, see It pays to study