OP-ED: Capitalism’s Signpost: Unemployment (Tehran Times, IRAN)

By the end of December 2008, the United States’ non-farm employment declined sharply and the unemployment rate rose from 6.8 to 7.2 percent, its highest level in 16 years, according to the most recent report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. Payroll employment fell by 524,000 over the month of December, following the loss of 533,000 during the month of November. During the year 2008, the U.S. lost 2.6 million jobs according to the official report. Figures for unemployment in 2008 make the last year of the Bush administration the worst year for job losses since 1945 and intensify the pressure on President Obama and the Congress to pass a fiscal stimulus package that will raise the federal budget deficit to the incredible height of $1.2 trillion, which shoots the U.S. national debt as high as $10.5 trillion or 75% of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

In December, the number of unemployed persons in the U.S. climbed to 11.1 million. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed workers has grown by 3.6 million and the unemployment rate has risen by 2.3 percentage points.

Among the total unemployed, 6.5 million were workers who were either long unemployed or had only part-time jobs before the start of the recession. The economic crisis has made the lot of this stratum of the work force worse than it has been in many decades. The number of long-term unemployed, i.e., those jobless for 27 weeks or more, reached 2.6 million in December. As of December 20, the number of Americans who were continuing to draw unemployment benefits went up by 140,000 to 4.5 million for the week. And more U.S. workers are expecting to be fired by mid-January. Argus Research economist Richard Yamarone said for many American workers the prospects for a better 2009 are nowhere in sight, adding that the number of jobless claims was at its highest since December 1982.

The signs of deterioration and deep cracks in the foundation of the U.S. economy can be found all around us, particularly in the financial, retail, and industrial sectors and, of course, the auto industry.

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