Every day I hear on the media that the economy is in growth mode and on it's way to a recovery. Many analysts have commented that even without real job growth that the recovery is in full swing. Let's take a look at the facts.
According to the official press release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, October 2nd, the US economy lost 263,000 jobs in September with an unemployment rate hitting 9.8% nationally. The press release also noted that since the recession began in December 2007, there have been nearly 7.5 million jobs lost. You read that right.
My home state of Indiana surpassed 10% unemployment rate earlier this year. My local market in Northwest Indiana has communities that have reached as high as 16.8% according to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
I also read in the article, It Will Be Years Before Lost Jobs Return -- and Many Never Will, published by the Wall Street Journal that our economy requires at a minimum a 100,000 new jobs a month just to keep track with population growth. What does that really mean? In order for the US economy to get back to pre-recession growth, approximately 310,000 new jobs would be needed monthly for the next 3 years.
With the national unemployment rate incrementally creeping towards the 10% threshold, the reality is starting to settle in for many parts of the country that a full economic recovery will not happen until job growth is sustainable. Without job creation there will be no money in the pockets of consumers which means they can not buy goods and services to sustain economic growth and they definitely will not be in a position to buy homes.
Who Believes There Can Be a Jobless Recovery?
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