America's official unemployment rate has dropped to 8.8% which represents
the lowest rate in over two years or since the financial services great
depression of 2008. This statistic is not truly representative of our
current economy.
America is still losing jobs. In February alone, 130,818 workers filed
for unemployment benefits. Those who lost their jobs about one year ago
make up 43.9% or 6 million people of the total unemployment numbers.
That represents about 13 million people still unemployed!
Economist suggest that the consistently high unemployment numbers are
cyclical and not a result of structural imbalances, such as workers
lacking the appropriate skills to perform in the job market. Other
economist have concluded that this persistenly high unemployment rate
is due largely to structural frictions in the US labor market rather
than to weak demand for workers associated with the severe recession.
After researching unemployment amont recent college graduates who
usually have the necessary skills, the researchers concluded that
although one may have an excellent education and no problem
relocating, it is still difficult to garner employment in today's
job market.
Sheila McKinney
