Economist: Job market not likely to improve with recession recovery
Even as companies hire more workers, the recovery won't be enough to heal a battered labor market still suffering from a historic recession, a Miami Federal Reserve executive said Thursday.
``I personally think the economy is going to change forever when it comes to unemployment,'' said Juan Del Busto, regional executive for the Fed's Miami branch.
Del Busto, one of South Florida's veteran economy watchers, described a hiring climate fundamentally altered by Florida's worst downturn since World War II.
Even as companies see sales rebound, they aren't bringing back workers to match the comeback, Del Busto said. Instead, they're squeezing more work out of fewer employees and turning to contract and part-time labor rather than offering full-time positions.
``Under-employment is significantly higher than in past recessions,'' Del Busto said, using the term for people working fewer hours than they'd like or at a job well below their expectations. He predicted unemployment -- now stuck at 10.5 percent in Broward and 13.1 percent in Miami-Dade -- would remain elevated at least through 2015.
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