Double digit white collar unemployment in 04 + record deficits = The Bush economy
That optimism flies in the face of hard numbers. The U.S. economy has lost nearly 1 million jobs since the recovery began in November 2001. That's in addition to the 1.6 million jobs that vanished during the brief recession. Unemployment remains above 6 percent, and the economy continues to shed jobs. Last month, an additional 44,000 jobs vanished, making July the sixth straight month of losses. Just last week, Pillowtex, a manufacturer of sheets and towels, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, leaving 6,450 workers jobless; May Department Stores said it will close 32 Lord & Taylor stores, putting 3,700 workers out on the street. "This has been the worst recovery we've had in terms of employment since the 1950s," says Scott Schuh, an economist at the Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Bank of Boston.
The dearth of jobs stems from factors signaling a sea change in today's business world: namely, higher productivity, altered management and hiring practices, and the flight of both blue- and white-collar jobs overseas. Many of the changes in the labor market are structural, not cyclical. "It's similar to what we saw 50 years ago when people began to leave farms," says Greg Mankiw, the president's top economist. "One of the ways economies grow is people moving from one sector to another." In short, the message to the nation's 9.1 million unemployed is: Don't hold your breath. Your old job may never return.
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