Sinking Deeper Into Recession

The Great Recession (GFC) rolls on and on .... And, the long-term unemployed are finding it just as hard to get a job today as in 2009. As Ben Casselman writes, Cutting Off Emergency Unemployment Benefits Hasn’t Pushed People Back to Work : The case against extending unemployment benefits essentially boils down to two arguments. First, the economy has improved, so the unemployed should no longer need extra time to find a new job. Second, extended benefits could lead job seekers either to not search as hard or to become choosier about the kind of job they will accept, ultimately delaying their return to the workforce. But the evidence doesn't support either of those arguments. The economy has indeed improved, but not for the long-term unemployed, whose odds of finding a job are barely higher today than when the recession ended nearly five years ago. And the end of extended benefits hasn't spurred the unemployed back to work; if anything, it has pushed them out of the labor force altogether. Of the roughly 1.3 million Americans whose benefits disappeared with the end of the program, only about a quarter had found jobs as of March, about the same success rate as when the program was still in effect; roughly another quarter had given up searching. The rest were still looking. This situation is anti-American. And, it's something that all patriots should realize is tearing the fabric of the country apart. A permanently unemployed middle class is a threat to the continuance of the American culture. It puts the lie to the values we all learned in school. And, it reinforces the stereotype of the rich as heartless, cruel monsters whose greed is boundless. That's the type of America that will ultimately lead to dissolution and revolution. Is that the kind of choice we want to make for the future?

Posted in: Wall Street Trading