Here’s Why U.S. Job Loss Worse, Wider Than Previous Recessions
The current economic downturn is the worst since the Great Depression and has led to more job loss than the previous two recessions. Just as in the 1930s, today’s economic crisis was triggered by a banking failure created in large part by financial degregulation. Both jobs and a stronger financial system must be addressed to prevent future problems, say two union leaders key to solving the crisis.
In a recent interview with National Public Radio (NPR), AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, a member of President Obama’s White House Economic Recovery Advisory Board, pointed out that the current recession is worse than the recessions of the mid-1970s and early 1980s when it comes to job losses. Says Trumka:
This recession began in December of 2007, and we’ve already lost more jobs as a percentage of total employment than in the entire ‘73 or ‘80-’81 recessions.
Disaster: Unemployment at 7.2 Percent. Real Rate 13.5 Percent
The jobless numbers out today are worse than even the most pessimistic analysts imagined: 524,000 jobs lost in December, pushing the nation’s unemployment rate to 7.2 percent. Under the Bush administration, 2008 has become the worst year for job loss since 1945, with nearly 2.6 million jobs lost last year alone. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 11.1 million of America’s workers are unemployed.
December was the 12th straight month of job loss and included a loss of 21,400 jobs in auto and parts industries. From Bloomberg:
Manufacturing, which makes up 12 percent of the economy, shrank in December at the fastest pace in 28 years, Institute for Supply Management figures showed. Payrolls at builders dropped by 101,000 after decreasing 85,000. Financial firms reduced payrolls by 14,000, after a 28,000 loss the prior month. Service industries, which include banks, insurance companies, restaurants and retailers, subtracted 273,000 workers after a decline of 402,000.
