With Dismal Hiring, Can The U.S. Economy Recover?

Economists and pundits have been predicting a robust jobs recovery, yet the latest U.S. jobs report is dismal once again. In an economy that needs to add 150,000 jobs a month just to keep up with its growth in population needing a job, the U.S. added just 18,000 jobs last month, on top of the 25,000 it added the prior month.

Federal, state and local governments are laying off people and companies hired just 57,000 people in June. And some of those jobs are at Wal-mart, McDonald's and other low pay scale employers, while others are at military sub-contractors, which means jobs at taxpayer expense. The unemployment rate is now 9.2%, with 14.1 million people out of work, 6.3 million of those people jobless for over six months. Add in those who can only get part-time work and those out of unemployment benefits, and the unemployment rate jumps to 16.2%, its highest since last December. And corporate wages are declining on average for those who are employed.

Worse yet, the U.S. government's massive stimulus money is spent and the government is buried in debt. Meanwhile, consumers are overwhelmed with debt, deeper in debt now than 5 years ago as they struggle to make ends meet. So no surprise, they are not rushing out to buy homes, cars and appliances nor are they spending lavishly on restaurants and vacations, so the economy is in a vicious downward cycle. While this downward cycle is eating Americans alive, the government continues to spend heavily on its wars and its war machine.

This is not a spectator sport as the Democrats and Republicans fumble through their debt ceiling negotiation, a ceiling that will solve nothing but allow the U.S. to keep borrowing. As an American your voice matters but unless you and the rest of us raise our voices for our government to end its wars, slash the size of its war machine and get its finances in order, not only will the economy not recover but it will take all we have worked for down the toilet with it.

Dick
For more of the latest jobs information, please see "Job Growth Falters Badly, Clouding Hope for Recovery," The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/09/business/economy/job-growth-falters-badly-clouding-hope-for-recovery.html?pagewanted=1&hp