10% unemployment, huh?
By Daniel at 18 July, 2009, 7:15 pm
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And if you count those who have been unemployed for over a year and those who have had to resort to part-time work, the lies & the bureaucracy, what is the real percentage of the unemployed? 20% percent or thereabouts? Recession really spread fast around my friends and families, 3 out of 5 people I know are now unemployment and most of them are the first time got layoff. No kidding! People are really getting angry.
U.S double digits unemployment rate of 1980-1981 vs. 2008-2009 single digit
Jobless rate tops 10 percent in 15 states, DC
WASHINGTON – Fifteen states have crossed a painful threshold: 10 percent unemployment. More states, and the nation, likely will follow, one of the biggest dangers to an economic recovery.
How consumers behave in the face of rising unemployment will figure prominently in shaping a broader rebound. If they go back into hibernation and sharply cut spending like they did at the end of last year, the recovery could cave in. More likely is that consumers will stay cautious, making for a fragile and slow-moving national economic turnaround, economists said.
The Labor Department on Friday said unemployment topped 10 percent in 15 states and the District of Columbia last month. And the jobless rate in Michigan surpassed 15 percent, the first time any state hit that mark since 1984.
The Federal Reserve this week projected that the national unemployment rate, currently at a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, will pass 10 percent by the end of the year. Most Fed policymakers said it could take “five or six years” for the economy and the labor market to get back on a path of long-term health.
“With so much uncertainty, companies will stay in cost-cutting mode and consumers will watch their spending,” said Steve Cochrane, managing director at Moody’s Economy.com.
The news was not all bad. North Dakota, helped by the oil business, reported the lowest unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in June. It was followed by Nebraska at 5 percent and South Dakota at 5.1 percent, supported by farm businesses. None of those states ever got carried away with the housing boom, either, so their residents didn’t suffer as big a hit to household wealth.
Still, the state unemployment report underscored the damage that the longest recession since World War II has inflicted on companies, workers and communities, and the challenges the economy faces getting back on its feet.
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Who is to blame? They all are-both parties, and anyone with financial interests. No one can fairly point at the other party and say it was their fault. But now that we are here, lets quit pointing fingers and get us out of this mess!!!