Busted: Unemployment Rise Worst in 20 Years

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/06/06/busted-unemployment-rise-worst-in-20-years/

by Tula Connell, Jun 6, 2008

The corporate media mouthpiece Bloomberg may say the nation’s economy is “stalling” in the wake of today’s announcement that the jump in the U.S. unemployment rate is the worst in more than two decades, but working Americans know the real word for it: Disaster.

Jobs fell by 49,000 after a 28,000 drop in April, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The unemployment rate increased to 5.5 percent, the fifth straight month in a row that jobs decreased.



The meltdown in employment is not a random or short-term event, says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. Rather:

It is a new indicator of a long-brewing problem that is toxic when combined with falling incomes, the mortgage crisis and out-of-control everyday costs. It is high time we recognized the problem with aggressive action.

In fact, the unemployment rate is just the most visible part of the economic crisis that’s gutting the living standards of America’s workers. In the past 30 years, wages have not kept pace with productivity and continue to evaporate. From The New York Times:

Salaries continued to shrink in May, after adjusting for inflation. Workers’ wages grew in May but at an anemic pace, with rank-and-file employees earning just $17.94 an hour, on average. That was a 5 cent increase—or 0.3 percent—from April.

Among African Americans, unemployment rates are even worse, jumping to 9.7 percent in May from 8.6 percent in April. There is one job for every two people seeking work.

FULL story at link.

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