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ADA Updates
Today’s job report released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) offered some much needed good news: economy added 192,000 jobs in February; the official unemployment rate has fallen below 9 percent (making the number of unemployed from 13.9 million to 13.7 million); and February brought the lowest number of new unemployment claims in the past 3 years. The real question is whether this recovery will continue or be choked off by draconian budget cuts or a government shutdown. “The biggest threat to economic recovery is choking off the federal investments that are feeding our job growth.” said Michael J. Wilson, National Director of Americans for Democratic Action. “Our nation is still facing an unemployment crisis that is particularly grim for our youth and the long-term unemployed. “ Coming down from the 9.8 percent high in November of 2010, the official unemployment rate declined last month to 8.9 percent. This is the third straight month of decline, but it did so at a slower rate in February than the previous two months. In addition, there are still more than six million workers, classified as the long-term unemployed, who have been out of work for 27 weeks or more. They account for 43.9 percent of the total unemployed, although their number decreased by 217,000 from the previous month, their plight is serious. The “real” unemployment rate - including part-time workers desiring full-time employment and discouraged job seekers -- dropped slightly to a still alarming 15.9 percent. Taking into account the recovery from the weathering effect of January, the gains in February are rather modest suggesting a real growth rate of about 100,000 jobs which would be consistent with the second half of 2010. View All ADA Updates |
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