I consulted the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and discovered some very alarming figures. Unemployment rates in the US for December 2008 have risen to 7.2%, up from 6.8% the month prior. Even more dramatic compared to a year ago where the unemployment rate peaked at 4.8%. What's more staggering are the actual numbers of real people, you and I, who have been turned away from our jobs due to our dismal economy and weak dollar. Currently there are 11.1 million individuals unemployed in the U.S. This does not include the hidden unemployed (those who are now working part-time because that cannot find full-time employment. These people make up 8 million of our U.S. population.
As if the above data was not alarming enough, today alone the following was announced:
- The A.C.L.U. (American Civil Liberties Union) is laying off 10% of its workforce
- Williams-Sonoma is laying off 1,400 people.
- Starbucks is laying off about another 1,000 workers.
- Home Depot is closing 41 stores and laying off 7,000 workers.
- Caterpillar (the bulldozer folks) has announced that they are laying off a whopping 20,000 workers.
- Pfizer announced the purchase of Wyeth and plans to cut 8,000 jobs immediately.
- Phillips Electronics will be laying off 6,000 employees.
- Sprint will be letting go of 8,000 jobs.
That's over 52,400 people who will be losing there jobs, in just one day alone!
It really doesn't look too good out there. Nor does it appear that we are going to get any better before getting worse. We can only hope our new president will have the strength and foresight to lead us into repair.
