The Human Face Behind This Economic Crisis by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. The hard figures released by the Labor Department last Friday, may look cold and impersonal. And Wall Street may be able to thumb its noses at it for a day or two. But the half-million-plus stories of frustration, pain and even panic that they conceal couldn't be more important: * In January, U.S. companies told nearly 600,000 people to pack up and go home. * A mind-numbing 626,000 filled out initial applications for unemployment benefits â?? a 26-year high. * The official unemployment rate has now exploded to 7.6%, the worst in more than 16 years. * Nearly 11.3 million American workers have lost their paychecks. * And these are just the most narrowly defined, official numbers. They exclude millions of jobless Americans who have given up looking for work or are employed only part time. Moreover, they've been candy-coated to portray the employment picture in the most favorable possible light. Many experts â?? such as economist John Williams of Shadowstats.com â?? say the real unemployment rate is twice as bad, between 14% and 15%. But These Are Just the Numbers. Don't Forget the Human Face Behind Them! For every one of those unemployed workers, this crisis is intensely personal: Disappointment, humiliation, dependence; the death of dreams and the birth of new nightmares. Worse, now, there's a real question as to whether or not state governments will be there for the unemployed. So many people have filed for unemployment benefits that seven states have already emptied their unemployment-insurance trust funds and another 11 states could run out of money for benefits by year's end. In South Carolina, for instance, the state boasted more than $600 million in its unemployment trust fund a decade ago. Today with official unemployment at 20% in some counties, the fund has gone broke. Other states are facing even larger financial challenges.
These statistics are a sobering reminder of the state of our country. Having been out of work since September, I have little hope of finding employment that will allow me to support my family. Thanks for posting the reality of the economy for all to see.
The worst is yet to come. The Dow is now at the 8200 mark and while it gained 200 points on Friday it is heading downward rapidly in early trading. In today's market a 200 point move in either direction is meaningless but many pundits called Friday's move upward a rally claiming that the worst may well be over. Truth is that there is most likely another 40% loss yet to come. We can expect the DOW to drop somewhere below 5,000 before any meaningful rebound to be forthcoming. That won't happen overnight. Obama is heading for Indiana this morning to pitch the bailout program which is actually among the very worst things that could be done. The economic crisis cannot be averted by throwing tons of money government does not have at it. That will only make things worse. We can count on millions more jobs to be lost in the next year or so. True unemployment could easily reach 40% of the population before it is over. Instead of punishing the real culprits we are rewarding them for their poor performance. An example is the case of General Motors. The president of GM was paid over 20 million last year while the company posted losses of 16 million. During that same period of time employees earning $25 an hour at the starting level were replaced with employees starting in at $15.00 an hour. That is outrageous but the same is true in other recipients of bailout money. Executives were greatly rewarded while employees were made to suffer loss of wages and benefits. Yet Obama seems bent on making ever greater blunders which we will all have to pay for.
