Unemployment Rate At 14-Year High
The nation’s unemployment hit a 14-year high of 6.5% in October as another 240,000 jobs were lost. It’s (almost) official that we are in a recession.
The U.S. Labor Department report shows the job market “deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid pace.” Unemployment rose from 6.1% in September, tying the rate in March 1994. The last peak at 6.3% was in June 2003. A year ago, the unemployment rate stood at 4.8 percent.
Employers slashed 127,000 positions in August. Another 284,000 jobs were lost in September. More than half of the job loss occurred in the past three months. Job losses seem to be a result of housing, credit and financial market upsets.
According to reports, factories cut 90,000 jobs, the most since July 2003. Construction companies got rid of 49,000 jobs with heavy losses in home building. Retailers cut payrolls by 38,000. Professional and business services reduced employment by 45,000. Financial activities cut 24,000 jobs, with heavy losses in mortgage banking and at securities firms. Leisure and hospitality axed 16,000 positions.
Some analysts expect unemployment to climb to 8% or higher next year. In the 1980-1982 recession, the unemployment rate rose as high as 10.8 percent before falling.
If the economy contracts further in the first quarter of next year, then that more than fulfills a classic definition of a recession–two straight quarters of contracting economic activity.
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November 7th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Jobless rates today bolted to an eye-popping 6.5 percent. This tells of many things but 2 things in particular – 1) Businesses both large and small are struggling and 2) after we reach the bottom of this recession, there will be many positions to be filled by companies, large and small.
Listen to the tone of airwaves, minus the recent election of President-elect Obama, everything has been so negative! Honestly, think about how negatively our society portrays almost every situation. Acquiring a negative perspective is easy, but stand up and make a statement about yourself – tell yourself you will not victim to this negative jargon! If you find yourself in a hole, ask yourself this question: what will more likely improve your chances of being successful – continuing with a negative outlook or transforming your thought patterns into a positive outlook?
I work with many high level c-level executives that have experienced tremendous success in their life. The one binding characteristic between all of them is that they do not let external, uncontrollable factors influence their inner dialogue and visions for future success. In fact, many of these people use a vision board – a collage of images that symbolize personal goals success - to help them keep focused on their positivity and desired outcomes. I might suggest using one yourself if you are currently in a rut. You should look at the helpful information on how to make one over at http://www.TheVisionBoardKit.com.