The national unemployment rate hit 9.8 percent in September, the highest it has been since June 1983. A total of 15.1 million Americans are now out of work, and 7.2 million jobs have been eliminated during the recession, the Labor Department said.

According to the Labor Department, employers eliminated 263,000 positions in September. A survey of Wall Street economists by Thomson Reuters pegs this as exceeding earlier forecasts of 180,000 job losses.

If laid-off workers who have settled for part-time employment or who have abandoned searching altogether are factored in, unemployment actually stands at 17 percent, the worst it has been since 1994.

Department figures indicate that 571,000 persons who were unemployed completely dropped out of the work force in September. This sent the percentage of the U.S. population that is employed or seeking employment plummeting to a 23-year low.

These drop outs from the work force are primarily older workers who are requesting Social Security. The Social Security Administration recently reported a 23-percent jump in retirement applications and a 20 percent increase in disability claims.

Americans who do stick it out are having to look for work longer. Almost 36 percent of the unemployed have been seeking work for six or more months, with the total number of persons in this category shooting up to a record 5.4 million.

Some industries are suffering worse than others. Construction jobs were down by 64,000 in September after losing 60,000 in August. Service sector jobs dropped by 147,000 last month, more than twice August’s loss of 69,000. Retailers did away with 38,500 positions, exceeding four times the 9,000 jobs lost the previous month. Even government saw 53,000 jobs eliminated, though it was local governments and not the federal bureaucracy that suffered the most.

The average work week fell in September to a record-setting low of 33 hours. This is significant because some economists expect companies to add hours to the schedules of current employees prior to hiring new workers. The drop in hours indicates that companies aren’t even at the point of increasing the work load on their current staff members, much less seeking to increase their staff size.

Perhaps because fewer people are doing work to cover what their former coworkers used to do, hourly earnings actually rose by a single penny in September. On the other hand, weekly wages fell $1.54 to $616.11, possibly explained by the average 33-hour work week.

“We still think the overall trend is moving in the right direction,” declared Christina Romer, who chairs the President's Council of Economic Advisers. “We’re going from much larger job losses earlier this year. They are moderating. We want them to moderate more.”

Republicans pointed out that jobs have continued to hemorrhage at an alarming rate despite the administration’s stimulus and bailout programs. “Wasteful government spending is not the solution to what ails this economy,” noted Representative Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the House Republican caucus chairman.

Representative Pence is correct, but this needs to be taken a step further. Government must not only spend less, it must become less.

Big government imposes a terrible economic cost through its policies of excessive taxation and regulation. And it thrives in the worst of times while the private sector suffers; witness that most of the government jobs lost were from local governments, not the federal leviathan.

Small towns are losing police officers, firefighters, and other important public servants while Congress recently granted itself and its staff a budget increase through federal spending legislation to prevent the government from shutting down.

The U.S. economy can be strong and vibrant only in direct proportion to how small and limited the federal government is constitutionally constrained to remain.

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Ally said:

RSS Feed where is the RSS feed for articles on newamerican.com?

October 02, 2009

Bonnie said:

Analogy A man falls out of an airplane. After about 1 second, he is falling at the rate of about 10 mph. The government announces that this is not untypical and there is nothing to worry about. A second or so later, rate of descent has increased to 40 mph. The government says this may be cause for concern and the matter bears watching. Shortly thereafter, rate of descent has increased to 100 mph. The government says the man is in free fall and gives him a brick. Then the man reaches terminal velocity, about 125 mph. The government announces that the rate of descent ha stabilized. This is good news. The brick was responsible of this. The man hits the ground. The government rejoices. The rate of descent has slowed to zero! This is very good news. The man then bounces. This is great news. He is again regaining altitude. The free fall has not only ended, but been reversed. If only they would have given him the brick sooner...

October 02, 2009

hsr0601 said:

The "early adoption" of 21st energy and health care reform I think the "early adoption" of 21st energy and health care reform is capable of putting the job market on a solid ground. As a major driver, IT industry stalled and stranded in a game industry for the lack of 21st energy policy over the stretch of two petrol wars needs to evolve into the all but indefinite energy, medical, and academic industry where the investors are eagerly waiting for policy-makers to act now ((100s of Companies (with $13 Trillion) Are Demanding Strong Climate Deal in Copenhagen just like environmental activists)), which I guess is why the far-reaching and long overdue health care and 21st energy bill have come into focus. I still think the densely populated countries are consuming such incredible natural resources right now that inefficiency as it is is not allowed any more. In the face of drastic dent in fossil fuels, supposedly computer came up as a primary and the most efficient substitute for them. We are now living in a digitalized society, and those energy, medical, and academic industries are the last remainders to work out and the most expansive, potential arenas as they are involved in all generations, unlike a game industry. In respect to the adoption of two crucial changes, the sooner, the much better because reinstating the jobless costs far more than lay-off, as is often the case. I'd say it is past time to end bickering around common sense : A public health policy, contemporary energy, and financial normalcy. Thank You !

October 03, 2009