New figures on job losses point to continued pain for American workers, as the economy shed 598,000 jobs last month, driving the unemployment figure to 7.6%. If the current trend continues we will be at double digit unemployment in a few months. And no matter how we look at these numbers they tell a bad story. From the Washington Post:
Since the recession began in December 2007, the nation has lost more jobs as a percentage of the labor force than it had at a comparable point in the early 1980s downturn, the worst recession of the post-World War II era. The number of unemployed Americans over the past year has risen by about 4.1 million, equivalent to the entire labor force of Virginia.
“It is almost set in stone now that this will be the worst job market we’ve seen in the postwar period,” said Scott Anderson, a senior economist at Wells Fargo.
All sectors are facing massive job losses, including construction.
The construction industry, which has been losing jobs since the housing slump began in late 2005 and shed 111,000 jobs in January, would also probably benefit from the stimulus package. Based on the earlier House version of the bill, Moody’s estimated that 803,000 construction jobs could be created by the end of 2012.
That would be welcome relief for an industry that has suffered with the slowdown in the building of schools, office towers, apartment buildings and shopping malls.
“Construction was slammed especially hard by the freezing of credit markets in mid-September,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America in Arlington. “Developers weren’t able to get funding. School districts that had planned to issue tax-exempt bonds [to finance building] discovered there was no market.”
Maybe someone should point out to Senator Collins of Maine that part of the downturn and job losses in construction come from an inability of local school districts to fund school construction projects because of the credit crunch. They mess it up in Washington and local school districts pay the price. Shameless. And with these jobless numbers come the stunning figures related to those who have simply dropped out of the labor force.
Last month alone, a stunning 731,000 Americans stopped looking for work, dropping out of the labor force out of apparent frustration with their employment prospects.
“In the 30-page employment report,” said Michael Feroli, a U.S. economist at J.P. Morgan Chase, “there is hardly a number that doesn’t convey the brutal conditions in the current job market.”
This stimulus is about putting real people back to work. Let the Republican Party stand tall against job creation for American workers. I wonder if those folks that have lost their jobs are looking for a tax break, or if they would prefer a job. The Party of Herbert Hoover is back.
Bill Manzi.com 