The 2010 Political Timebomb Is Unemployment

[Beacool]

The Nation
Posted by John Nichols on 01/09/2010

American employers eliminated 4.2 million jobs in 2009 and sent unemployment soaring into double digits for the first time in more than a quarter century.

Since the fall of last year, the official jobless rate has been over ten percent, while the unofficial rate (taking in the severely underemployed and those who have given up looking) has been over 17 percent.

And, despite the ridiculous "green-shoots" speculation of the Obama administration and overblown "recovery" fantasies of the financial media that has blown every major economic story of recent years, the situation is getting worse.

Analysts had predicted that December layoffs would number around 8,000.

Instead, the figure was more than ten times higher: 85,000.

Unemployment held steady at 10 percent – not because the job market is stabilizing but because tens of thousands of Americans gave up looking for work and are no longer counted among the unemployed.

The sharp drop in the labor force is not merely an indicator of the real unemployment rate. It is a confirmation of the mounting hopelessness in vast stretches of the United States – particularly in California, southern New England and the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes States, where communities are being devastated by a federal auto-industry "bailout" that continues to encourage carmakers to shutter factories in U.S. cities and to relocate production to Mexico and China.

The new unemployment numbers are devastating, and they should send up red flares in Washington, a city where officials have so far been absurdly neglectful of the most serious social, economic and political crisis facing the country.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/514394/the_2010_political_timebomb_is_unemployment

Times are tough for so many people. How much longer can they survive without jobs? Even those who still collect unemployment benefits are barely hanging in there.

:(

[denem]

1. That's a few more than four paragraphs.

You contributed 25 words.

[dionysus]

2. i have an idea... let's make a factory to produce these!

:hi:

[Beacool]

4. Hi, sweetie!!!

Thanks for the banky, but we are going to need a few million of them if we want to cover all those who have no jobs or are underemployed. The Unrec'ing crew can't change reality.

Hugs for you!!!

:hug:

[uponit7771]

3. A fair critism of Obama's admin is they CONTINUE to talk about the economy in Wall Street terms...

...instead of main street hard facts.

The GDP can be growing at 200% and the DOW can be at 34 trillion if we still have 10% unemployment it doesn't matter.

The "lost decade" for the Japanese saw no economic grows but an average of 5.4% unemployment...

Our politicians don't thin of this oppurtinity in the same way

[Beacool]

5. There was a good article in a newspaper recently.

It gave a couple of detailed explanations on how two specific companies had used technology to replace the jobs that they had eliminated. One of the companies was an advertising agency that had slashed 25% of its workforce. They figured how to still produce ads while cutting costs. For example, instead of hiring a professional voice over actor at $400 to $500 an hour, they used a voice program that gave them multiple alternatives for a fraction of the cost. Therefore, they don't need to rehire the 25% of the workforce that they cut even if times rebound. That's why production has gone up despite so many job losses.

My question is: If this is just one of many companies that are doing the same, how are all those who were left unemployed find jobs?

:-(

[uponit7771]

6. I work in finance and usually a rising wage (a LEADING indicator) would fix that because those peopl

...would be easily absorbed into another good paying job even theoretically.

The structural issue that NO economist I speak to is willing to admit is that wages are still not going up to effect discretionary spending(ie the dependency of credit cards) in the postive, the wage curve was already broken and this job depression isn't helping...an energy initiative like FDR's WPA would absorb the workers slack but put another industry out of business in the end (big oil).

NAFTA wasn't a good thing for this country...

[Beacool]

7. I'm very worried about the future of the nation.

Last Sunday I spoke with my brother. He is much older and is an economist for Spain and France. He lives in both countries and frequently goes to Brussels, where the Council of the European Union is located (he was there this week, as a matter of fact).

Anyway, he doesn't see us in prior to 2007 financial shape for another 15 years. I sure hope that he's wrong, but who am I to argue with a guy who has two PhDs on the subject.

;(