| Submit your comments on this article |
| Economy |
| Unemployment Up, Confidence Down |
| 2011-06-04 |
| Behind the hard numbers in Friday's dismal report on the job market are scared small-business owners, slashed state budgets, dried-up federal stimulus funds and a lingering uncertainty that has taken hold from corporate boardrooms to factory floors around the country. I'm beginning think our President has not delivered the change I hoped for! Employers added 54,000 jobs in May, the Labor Department said Friday, down from 232,000 in April. The unemployment rate rose to 9.1 percent from 9 percent. That deterioration in the labor market marks only the latest in a slew of recent signs that the economic recovery is losing momentum. We can't say it's "unexpected" anymore! We can't but the MSM will... Employers from coast to coast describe a situation in which tepid economic growth alone isn't enough to offset "Everybody is so fearful right now because of the uncertainty about the future," said Bill Hall, who owns five Dairy Queen franchises around Fort Worth. "It's a problem that's impacting all of us. That uncertainty and that fear is the number one reason you're not seeing job growth. . . . Everybody is in a situation where they're afraid to make a move. Unfortunately, that's caused everything to come to a standstill." Now if this was in the Dallas Morning News, it'd be fairly unremarkable. But it's the Washington Post. The largest job losses were in a public sector that is rapidly retrenching. Local governments have been cutting jobs in vast numbers -- 28,000 in May -- trying to eliminate their yawning budget gaps by dismissing public employees. Try to reduce benefits and save jobs and you get the Wisconsin Syndrome©. Aziz Hashim, president of an Atlanta-based company that owns scores of Popeyes, Checkers and Domino's Pizza franchises in Georgia, California, Arizona and Florida, said his firm added four new restaurants last year and is on pace for five this year. But he said a lack of clarity about government policy and doubt about the direction of the economy has held him back from more aggressive expansion. "There's no question that we could be doing more, but we have to be very careful because we can't adequately project" what lies ahead. The chart in Mrs. Bobby's paper shows construction has the highest unemployment rate at 16.3%, with the lowest rate - only 3.9% - for (surprise!) government workers. Even the housing market in DC is not as bad as the rest of the country. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #1 DC DC it's a wonderful town Unemployment's up, the economy's down DC DC--it's a won-der-ful towwnn! With apologies to Betty Comden and Adolph Green |
| Posted by: charger 2011-06-04 19:57 |