With almost five unemployed workers for every job opening, the economy isn’t creating enough jobs to make a significant reduction in unemployment.
Another 400,000 workers in the U.S. applied for unemployment for during the last week of July, according to the Department of Labor. This advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was virtually unchanged from the previous week’s revised figure of 401,000. The 4-week moving average was 407,750, a decrease of 6,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 414,500.
For the short term the U.S. is facing unemployment rates of close to 10%, and that doesn’t include people who have given up looking for work or what is now a chronic long-term unemployment problem. The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending July 16 was 7,570,439, a negligible decrease of 75,192 from the previous week.
A new U.S. Senate report from the Joint Economic Committee says this: “Two years after the Great Recession officially ended, (Does anybody really believe the recession ended?) unemployment remains above 9% (the real rate is likely 12% or more). Equally alarming, the record long-term unemployment that characterized the Great Recession has shown few signs of abating and remains at near-record levels. Almost 4.5 million workers have been unemployed for a year or more. Another 1.7 million have been jobless for between six months and a year.”
With almost five unemployed workers for every job opening, the economy isn’t creating enough jobs to make a significant reduction in unemployment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release job creation data tomorrow.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
