The U.S. may lose half-million jobs for the month of November 2008 - the biggest drop since 1974. This is the headline news. Again, I ask you to keep perspective so that you can hold your emotions in check - at least a little.
The December 6, 2008 weekend Wall Street Journal reports: "...602,000 jobs (were) lost in December 1974. But the overall labor market is about 75% larger today, so the job cuts now represent a smaller share of the work force..."
Sometimes reporting absolute numbers (rather than percentages) adds to the frenzy. I encourage you to remember that numbers can mislead.
The U.S. has experienced 9-10%+ unemployment rates (see previous day's blog) in the past, and today's rate of 6.7% may increase to 8% or more based on some forecasts.
The number of months of continued job losses was 14 months in a row from the summer of 1981 through the end of 1982. Whew! That is the worst consecutive period in the past 40 years (worse than 1974), though the 2001 to 2003 period is a close rival.
By the way, that 1980-1982 recessionary period was followed by more than 7 years of almost non-interrupted job growth. We got about 5 years of job growth after 2003. The point: it did eventually end.
We now have had 11 months in a row of job losses (all of it in 2008).
An Introduction
Hi. Welcome to BourGroup and my blog. Phil
Phil Bour is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm) professional since 2004, a Magna Cum Laude college graduate and an accounting professional for over 35+ years. I love numbers, statistics and economic history.
I am also an Enrolled Agent (EA) to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and to prepare tax returns.
"Phil"osophy: I believe that you can manage your money on your own (not necessarily through individual stock selection but through mutual funds, ETF's and other solutions) once you receive some one-time, professional guidance. Why pay annual fees when there may be little added value? For additional information, first read the "An Introduction" label at the left. Then move on to others.
Phil Bour is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER(tm) professional since 2004, a Magna Cum Laude college graduate and an accounting professional for over 35+ years. I love numbers, statistics and economic history.
I am also an Enrolled Agent (EA) to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service and to prepare tax returns.
"Phil"osophy: I believe that you can manage your money on your own (not necessarily through individual stock selection but through mutual funds, ETF's and other solutions) once you receive some one-time, professional guidance. Why pay annual fees when there may be little added value? For additional information, first read the "An Introduction" label at the left. Then move on to others.