UP Ibalon Bicol: Economy is worse than what Obama wants the public to believe

Economy is worse than what Obama wants the public to believe

7/17/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

When the Bureau of Labor and Statistics released its June 2009 joblessness rate, the number ballooned to 467,000, putting a total 7.2 million out of work since the onset of the recession. The unemployment rate had reached 9.5%, the highest in 26 years. It was the largest job contraction in a 6 month period since the 1940’s.

With lack of public confidence, the meltdown drags--- the huge job loss equaled the job gain in the last 9 years. As a consequence, U.S. Federal Reserve officials revised their unemployment forecast to top 10 percent, above the 9.6 percent that was previously predicted. Economists and financial analysts foresee the unemployment rate to rise between 9.8 and 10.1 percent in 2009.

States Above 10% Joblessness Rate:

Alabama,
California,
Florida,
Georgia,
Illinois,
Indiana,
Louisiana,
Michigan
Nevada,
North Carolina,
Ohio, Oregon,
Rhode Island,
South Carolina
Tennessee.

"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. To get there, consumers must return to a regular spending groove and housing prices need to start rising again."---AP (07/17/09, Aversa, J.)

According to Mortimer Zuckerman of the US News (07/15/09,) the June data include 185,000 people who are presumed to have work, but in reality, may be jobless. Not part of the unemployment list are the unpaid leaves that have become commonplace. The work-hours in many industries have dropped and fulltime jobs for workers are being converted to part time.

About 1.4 million people are available to work within the last 12 months, but they have not been looking for employment. The average duration of joblessness in this recession has lengthened to 24.5 weeks and the average pay of workers remained at $18.53 per hour. About 223,000 positions in the production sector have been lost, creating a dismal picture for labor.

Obviously, Obama’s good intentions did not translate into success. Instead, more whispers of difficult times spook Americans who could just wait and see how the administration churn the business climate to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

With Obama’s falling popularity and shortening of public patience, a second stimulus program is in the horizon, furthering the alarming big borrowing and spending of the government. The budget deficit has skyrocketted. Just as before, financial planners and legislators in Capitol Hill have little accountability. As doubt mounts and money flows into uncertain hands, it’s the American people who are caught between the stone and a rock-hard place. (Photo Credit: Darth Dragon) =0=

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Labels: Accountability, Barack Obama, Bureau of Labor, economy, employment, joblessness, recession, Statistics, Totie Mesia, unemployment

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