Despite what spin-doctors in Washington may tell you, the job situation is ugly and getting worse.
According to the Labor Department's report on Friday, 2.35 million jobs have disappeared in a puff of smoke since March 2001.
Many are so fed up that they drop out of the labor force entirely. That's why the percentage of people in the job market fell to 65.9% last month, the lowest since September 1988.
I can't say I blame them. Of the 8.2 million people who are unemployed, 1.87 million have been out of work longer than six months. On average, it takes 20.3 weeks for people to find a new job, the worst since 1984.
Then, when they do find work, it's usually in a low-wage, service job — not the higher-paying manufacturing job that used to be so abundant. Indeed, last month, factories shed ANOTHER 3,000 jobs, the FORTY-THIRD month in a row of falling factory payrolls.
SNOW JOB
Just four and a half months ago, U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow gave an interview to the Times of London. He was asked about the job situation in America.
His response: “Everything we know about economics indicates that the sort of economic growth expected for the next year, 3.8 to 4 percent, will translate into 2 million new jobs from the third quarter of this year to the third quarter of next year — I would stake my reputation on employment growth happening before Christmas.”
Separately, he estimated that 200,000 jobs a month would be created over the coming 12 months. He was wrong. On average, only 52,000 jobs have been added per month, little more than one-FOURTH the forecast.
How is this possible? How can there be such a stark contrast between the glowing, cocky words coming from officials and the dire realities on the ground?
Actually, the discrepancy between official fiction and financial reality is a very common behavior pattern in our modern culture. And this morning, to give you a broader sense of this phenomenon, I want to take you back in time to two other events....
from Martin Weiss. |
