Economic news: It's all lousy
Jobless rate up; job cuts soar; paychecks shrink
WASHINGTON — Americans lucky enough to still have a job are noticing something unpleasant in their paychecks: They're making less money.
Employers cut 467,000 jobs in June, far more than expected, and the jobless rate hit a 26-year high of 9.5 percent. Just as worrisome, wages shrank to their lowest in nearly a year.
The bleak news Thursday from the Labor Department underscored one of the big threats to an economic turnaround: Rising joblessness and falling wages for those still working could send Americans back into spending hibernation and short-circuit any recovery.
President Barack Obama acknowledged concern. "What we're still seeing is too many jobs lost, too many families who are worried about whether they're going to be next in terms of job loss, or whether they can find another," he said.
The falling wages come from furloughs, pay freezes and pay cuts imposed by employers across the country. Many also have cut hours: The average work week in June fell to 33 hours, the lowest on records dating to 1964.
Nathan Bieber, 26, who works at Einstein Bros. Bagels in Phoenix, works 28 to 30 hours a week now, down from his previous 37, a loss of up to $100 weekly. He's canceled his Internet service and deferred payments on student loans six times.
His wife, who is legally blind and works at another Einstein Bros. location, has gone from a 30-hour work week to 15. They rely on her disability pay for rent and the electric bill.
"If it weren't for that," he said, "we'd be homeless."
The bleak jobs news sent stocks sinking. All the major stock indexes finished down more than 2.5 percent, including a 223-point drop for the Dow Jones industrials, its worst performance in more than two months.
Job losses had decreased every month since January, but they rose in June. The 467,000 job losses were up from 322,000 in May; economists had predicted 363,000 job losses.
By comparison, the rise in the unemployment rate for June was small, up just a tenth of a percentage point to 9.5 percent. Many economists predict that it will hit 10 percent this year and keep rising into next year before falling back.
Including laid-off workers who have given up looking for jobs or have settled for part-time work, the so-called underemployment rate was 16.5 percent in June, the highest on records dating to 1994.
The recession has taken out 6.5 million jobs in about a year and a half. All told, nearly 15 million people were considered unemployed in June.
"Whatever is available, you kind of have to take it," said Shirley Walker, 58, who lost her job running a nonprofit in Orlando, Fla. "If you've been out there working, and you have a career, now it's like starting a career all over again."
Illustrating how hard it is to land a job, 29 percent of the unemployed have been out of work six months or longer. That's the most on records dating to just after World War II. The unemployment rate for teenagers is 24 percent, the highest since 1983.
Average weekly earnings fell about $2 in June to $611.49, the lowest in nearly a year and the first month-to-month drop since March.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has predicted that the recession, the longest since World War II, will end later this year. And most economists still think that will happen.
But the strength of any recovery will depend heavily on Americans' willingness to borrow and spend, but lately they have been using more of their income to save or pay down debt.
"The job market will become the Achilles' heel of the coming recovery," said economist Sung Won Sohn.
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Comments
jimjones (anonymous) says...
HOPEANDCHANGE baby!!!!
Woohoo!!!
This is Barry's problem now. He can't blame it on the past Admin. Love it, love it, love it!!!
YES WE CAN........wait in the unemployment line!
July 3, 2009 at 12:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Bluebird63 (anonymous) says...
And this makes you celebrate why? I don't see any reason to hoop and holar over such a bleak thing. It's sad!
As far as Pres. Obama, no matter what you think about him, his policies or the current state of our country, he is our president for now, let's not forget that.
May God bless this country again!!
July 3, 2009 at 2:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jdargonaut (anonymous) says...
What kills me is that big Sumney keeps talking about bringing jobs to the area. Why doesn't he try to keep the jobs here that are here? Heck, the shipyard has been cutting jobs, he doesn't want the port to expand and they aren't adding jobs to the community, BOSCH and even the incinerator. This isn't even talking about all the Mom and Pop stores that have closed. If these political genius' would quit trying to coddle the few and just GET IT DONE, then we wouldn't be in this shape.
Kudos to the reverend (Jim Jones) for telling it like it is.
I remember someone saying that the stimulus would create of SAVE millions of jobs. WHERE ARE THEY mr. president? This stupid energy bill is supposed to create "MILLIONS" of green energy jobs (that is a quote from Axelrod, the presidents advisor). I'll be one of the first to throw the ole' BS flag.
The sheep of the US need to quit falling for these politicians line of crap and empty hope and change and get the facts.
I vote present for this president!
.02
JDA
July 3, 2009 at 12:07 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
WhyDoIBother (anonymous) says...
I'm in the real estate industry. This recession is far from over. The commercial side is about to go down. The botom line is this....we were paying too much for goods and services. We are acting like money grows on tress. I'm not throwing stones here, I'm guilty too.
But, as a nation we were fat n' happy, we were obese. Governemnt is swelling beyond our capasity to pay for it. Prices need to come down(on everything), homes need to be smaller, cars need to be fuel effecient, and unions need to understand that their day is past (They are part, a large part of the distruction of our economy). We need deflation in all sectors to get out of this. We are very close to a depression.
It is time we all said, "I'm mad as HELL and I'm not going to take it anymore."
July 3, 2009 at 12:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seneca264 (anonymous) says...
What did the morons who voted for Hussein expect.....really? This man has been nothing but a community activist and ambulance chaser for subversive groups like ACORN. He was also a member of the students communist party while in college. His political career was launched by a terrorist. His idol was a devout communist. This fraud has not even ran a lemonade stand. Hellllllloooooo.....is there anyone out there with a brain? The sounds of crickets chirping.
July 3, 2009 at 2:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
desspec (anonymous) says...
2 days ago CNN was feeding their mindless sheep a rosy picture ...
July 3, 2009 at 3:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
stanish (anonymous) says...
Posted by seneca264 on July 3, 2009 at 2:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What did the morons who voted for Hussein expect.....really?
What did the backwards, red -necked, hillybilly, religious right wingnuts who voted for George W. Bush expect? We who VOTED for Pres. Obama knew this wasn't gone to change over night and are still CONFIDENT this economy slowly but surely will turn around. After succeeding the absolute WORST administration in history and the WORST President in modern day history, I along with so many citizens of this great country see in him a LEADER who is not afraid to tackle issues head on with fortitude, stamina, and strenght! Many of you posting negative are rightly connected with an obese RACIST right wing talk show host who hopes he FAILS. There are many who confidently voted for him knows he will SUCCEED with the backing of fair minded able americans!
July 3, 2009 at 7:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seneca264 (anonymous) says...
You are either ignorant, stupid, or racist. Most likely all three if you are a product of the South Carolina school system. I would rather not have intellectual midgets respond to my post. You could at the very least base your opinion on some fact instead of reaching in the past. By the way, I did not vote for Bush and in fact wrote him off in his second year of his first term. You moronic racists are not even able to defend your ground without pointing fingers at someone else. Some things never change.
July 3, 2009 at 8:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
seneca264 (anonymous) says...
It looks like ex Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is begging the Marxist dictator Obama to help him. Funny how the hypocrite Obama stated that the United States did not have any business interfering with Iran while they were conducting rigged elections. Obama did not have any problem with the murder going on in Iran. It appears that Obama did not have any problem backing the Jew Hater murderer that will not allow his own people to have a democracy. It appears that Obama the dictator has no problem interfering with Honduras. What a two-faced creep.
July 3, 2009 at 8:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammer (anonymous) says...
ditto that seneca... obama's stimulus package didn't stimulate anything more than his wife, if that...
he's voicing/pretending that we are in a turn around because his advisor's finally told him to speak positive after all the negative rhetoric during his campaign
not only has he continually supported all the international terrorist since he's been in office, he's also lied about nearly everything that put him in office... everyone that supported him are starting to realize it from the gays to the press
and about that "no one making under $250,000 a year will see a tax increase", it seems he lied again... now he's singing a different tune, seems we will ALL see our taxes go up on everything we own now or in the future... just as the fat guy Rush and others said
why does he want to interfere with Honduras but didn't with Iran? or with Israel but not with Palestinians?
ahhh of course, because he's backing the dictators and terrorist of each... Hondurans were merely protecting their own constitution, it wasn't a coup as our liberal news media lies
he won't protect ours either, or abide by it... where's his real birth certificate again?? and he's produced it when? never... all previous POTUS did and had too, but they were white...
the axe is yet to come down my friends, we'll see how much you back him when the edge gets closer to your skin
July 3, 2009 at 8:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jdargonaut (anonymous) says...
stanish,
Did you know that we had a president Carter? We are headed down almost the same exact path right now except your president and his henchmen in congress QUADRUPLED our national debt WITHOUT doing a THING for our economy.
Did you know that the country has come out of worse economic downturns faster than this?
What happened to not taxing 95% of people who make less than $250K? Tax our cars that aren't as fuel efficient as his Chrysler 300 that he drove before he became president? Tax the crap out of cigarettes? Tax our healthcare?
Open your blindered eyes to what is really going on in the new and improved USA called the USSA!!!
Oh, one last thing, Rush's whole context is what you need to look at/read up on. He hopes his AGENDA fails was the underlying message. Don't get your pantie in a bunch because I am not a big fan of his.
.02
JDA
July 3, 2009 at 11:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
TheTruthFighter (anonymous) says...
Some people don't even have a clue! This is America! The land of the so called free and the home of the Brave! The founding fathers had less and built a nation. It was built on the strengths of the men and women that even a depression could not stop! So stop your whining and build your own destiny! The only things that stand between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it, and the faith to believe it's possible. The more that you depend on someone else to rescue you, the longer you will remain a slave!
It is during times like this that MILLIONAIRE are created and the broke stay broke! I see a Realtor talked about the commercial business about to fail! I'm a real estate investor also! Move with the Cheese and buy some of those commercial properties and when the market comes back, you can walk away from that slave position.
Let remember who we are, Americans!
July 5, 2009 at 9:19 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
productofSCschool (anonymous) says...
I'm sorry not everyone has the free time to google every topic and post 277 comments on a newspaper website....some of us are actually making something of ourselves. I must say, your implied intelligence was completely diminished by your bigoted comments. I am proud to say I'm a product of the SC public school system and will be graduating with a PhD from a top rated university at the age of 26:oh, I'm also a female in case you're sexist as well.
July 6, 2009 at 9:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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