One in every 15 Americans is Jobless as Unemployment Soars to 16-Year High
So recession has arrived and hitting ordinary Americans very hard. Now nearly one in every 15 people is now jobless due to current economic recession. As December data started to arrive, it is shocking for most of us that Americans lost 524,000 jobs in December. This is reflective of a deeper fear among nation’s major job providers and employers. Companies are shedding employees at a faster rate as the started to feel the hardening pinch of recession.
The unemployment rate jumped to a 16-year-high of 7.2% according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics report released this Friday. The army of the unemployed is growing and it is currently estimated that about 11.1 million people can not find any job despite trying. This figure is nearly 50 % larger than at the start of the recession about a year ago.
Washington Post Reports
The overall unemployment rate jumped from 6.8 percent in November, the Labor Department said. Employers cut 524,000 jobs last month, 2.6 million over the course of 2008. Companies not only slashed workers, but also cut back on hours for their remaining employees, to the shortest average workweek on record.
“The numbers are pretty rotten,” said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s, “and as you look at the details of this, it’s hard to find any bright spots.”
The weak results were roughly in line with expectations, one reason that the stock market was down only modestly on the news. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.6 percent, or 143 points. Some analysts said they have become almost numb to horrible economic news.
“When you have an economy in free-fall, you have to expect job losses of this magnitude,” said Richard Yamarone, chief economist at Argus Research.
Here is an interesting video about the News posted by Associated Press
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