Banks Foreclosed on a Million Homes Last Year
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Rather than helping working people to save their homes, banks foreclosed on more than 1 million properties last year, which will slow the economic recovery and obstruct job growth, especially in construction.
As NPR’s Jacob Goldstein reports:
…repossessed houses tend to sell at a discount, and this backlog is likely to keep housing prices down.
It’s also likely to mean that home construction crews will largely remain idle. Who would want to build new houses that will have to compete with all those foreclosures coming to market?
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.
