Originally posted by: Lemon law
The myth here is that this is just a normal business cycle recession.
When it sure look to me like a slow downward slide, where each subsequent high will be lower than the previous high as the normal business cycle of boom and bust still operates but on a descending slope instead of a level playing field.
The current economy is only sustained by adding debt, while US manufacturing, which pays for it all, has declined greatly in the last seven years.
The last recent figure I heard is that manufacturing is only 10% of our economy now.
Besides the lack of jobs, the fact that payroll is backsliding also busts up the myth that has been perpetrated by certain people that last 7 years.
6-6-2008
Unemployment rate jumps to 5.5 percent in May, biggest rise since 1986 payrolls cut again
The nation's unemployment rate jumped to 5.5 percent in May -- the biggest monthly rise since 1986 -- as nervous employers cut 49,000 jobs.
The latest snapshot of business conditions showed a deeply troubled economy, with dwindling job opportunities in a time of continuing hardship in the housing, credit and financial sectors.
"It was ugly," said Richard Yamarone, economist at Argus Research.
The big jump in the unemployment rate surprised economists who were forecasting a tick-up to 5.1 percent. Payroll losses, however, weren't as deep as the 60,000 that analysts were bracing for. Still, job losses in both March and April turned out to be larger than the government previously reported.
Employers now have cut payrolls for five straight months.
The government said the number of unemployed people grew by 861,000 in May -- rising to 8.5 million. The over-the-month jump in unemployment reflected more workers losing their jobs as well as an increase in those coming into the job market -- especially younger people -- to look for work, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said.
A year ago, the number of unemployed stood at 6.9 million and the jobless rate was 4.5 percent.
And,
there's been a lot of talk about whether the economy is on the brink of, or fallen into, its first recession since 2001.
That determination, made by a panel of academics, is usually made well after the fact.
"For the average American there is not debate that the eocnomy is in a recession," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "That's because their net worth is lower, their purchasing power is lower and it is tough to find a job. If you lose a job, it is tough to get back in," he said.
Facebook
Twitter