1. Jobless rate jumped 8.1 percent, 651,000 jobs are lost. This is the highest rate since 1983.
2. Nigel Gault, economist at IHS Global Insight, stated: "There is no light at the end of the tunnel with these numbers. Job losses were everywhere and there's no hope for a turnaround any time soon."
3. Since the recession began in Dec. 2007, the economy has lost 4.4 million jobs, more than half of which occurred in the past four months.
4. The number of people forced to work part time for "economic reasons" rose by a sharp 787,000 to 8.6 million.
5. The average work week is only 33.3 hours.
6. Construction companies eliminated 104,000 jobs. Factories 168,000 jobs. Retailers cut almost 40,000 jobs. Professional and business services got rid of 180,000. Financial companies reduced payrolls by 44,000. Leisure and hospitality firms chopped 33,000 positions.
7. The unemployment rate is expected to hit 9% this year. Did you know that to be in a depression, unemployment needs to hit 15%? We are not too far away.
8. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress earlier this week that recent economic barometers "show little sign of improvement" and suggest that "labor market conditions may have worsened further in recent weeks."
-Be thankful for what you have
sj
3 comments:
Hmm, #5 isn't so bad. I've always thought the work week would be much better if it were only 30 hours! :) You're right though, I do have a LOT to be thankful for!
Absolutely it worries me. Things can change so fast. How people are working on their food storage and saving their pennies!! I know I sound like I'm 60 years old, but it's so true!
Sar, you are the fourth person in the last 24 hours that I have talked to bring up some these statistics. We do have a lot to be thankful for and I lot to work for as a country.
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