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LOST JOBS AND UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE
USA The
AFL-CIO website points out the worsening situation regarding US jobs
since January 2001.
In January 2001, the unemployment
rate was 3.9 percent and by March 2005, the unemployment rate was
5.2 percent. That 5.2 percent represents 7.7 million unemployed
workers
The AFL-CIO also reports that the
real figure should be closer to 13.6 millions since many have become
discouraged and stopped looking for work will others are
underemployed in part-time jobs out of economic necessity.
Also according to the AFL-CIO
website, an estimated 830,000 white collar jobs alone, will be
shipped overseas by beginning of 2006. They also estimate as many as
14 million middle-calls jobs could be exported in the next 10 years
to countries such as India and China.
Exporting jobs isn't the only
reason there are job losses in the US. Amercian Companies struggle
to compete by selling more products than cheap importers. When this
happens many companies have to cut jobs to cut corners.
According to an article by Josh Bivens,
"Many economic observers have recently exonerated international
trade flows for the hemorrhaging job losses in the manufacturing
sector of the United States, generally claiming that either
changing demand patterns or rapid productivity growth are
the cause of manufacturing's decline. But the evidence shows that
trade imbalances in manufacturing have accounted for 59% of the
decline in manufacturing employment since 1998."*
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*April 8, 2004, Economic Policy Institute. |
