November unemployment numbers released on Dec. 2 indicated a decrease in joblessness from 9 percent to 8.6 percent. Most U.S. media treated that decline as good news, but behind the statistics is a less encouraging reality. The net employment gain in November was 120,000: 140,000 jobs gained in the private sector offset by 20,000 jobs lost in the public sector, as local, state and federal governments continue to shed workers. That “growth” was barely enough to keep up with new workers entering the job market. Worse news was that 315,000 people dropped out of the workforce entirely. These are unemployed people so discouraged that they have stopped looking for work and have become ineligible for unemployment insurance assistance. Network, a Catholic lobby, argues that real improvement in the U.S. job market will require a more determined government response, since the U.S. private sector cannot absorb all those who are unemployed. Repairing crumbling infrastructure and hiring more teachers are just two ways the federal government could intervene to spur job growth.
Unemployment Down?
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
Pope Leo offered a heartening message for a global media that has endured a pretty awful year.
If you think our enthusiasm for our basketball team was intense, just wait until you see our support for Pope Leo XIV.
“I don’t think he’s the kind of man who sends coded messages,” Cardinal Michael Czerny says in this exclusive interview with Gerard O’Connell.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld a ruling denying state funds to a Catholic charter school in Oklahoma. What should American Catholics be asking about public funding for school choice?