What do these numbers mean to you? At first look you might say 7.2% is a pretty good interest rate on a credit card...And you might say 2.6 million is the number of folk who visited Navy Pier last year...Well, according to the U.S Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics, these numbers represent the unemployment rate and the number of people laid off in 2008...YIKES!!! CNN has a great article regarding the current situation. I can't stress enough the importance of feeling fortunate if you are one of the people who are still gainfully employed. More so, my heart goes out to those who are unemployed and actively looking for work. These are indeed tough times and I wish you all the luck, with blessings...
Let's quickly define the unemployment rate, shall we?
"Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work, but the person is without work." This does NOT include welfare recipients (whether justified or not) or people who are unemployed by choice. Additionally, the aforementioned 7.2% reflects the 11.1 MILLION people who are seeking work in this country. That is a ton of folk!!! There is a great breakdown of the numbers on the U.S Department of Labor - Bureau of Labor Statistics website.
I also feel bad for President Elect, Barrack Obama. I would hate to inherit this burden. The GOP is, with all likelihood, not going to remember that he came into his administration with this hanging over his head. Instead they will blame the next couple years of downturn on him, Congress, and his administration. Such a shame...I hope that this economic crisis brings our citizens closer together, but I am not going to hold my breath...
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