4 Year Slump in Workforce

The economy as we all know is taking a huge hit - the gas prices, the war, and the joblessness. Employment continued to fall in construction, manufacturing, and several service-providing industries,while health care and mining continued to add jobs.

The nation’s unemployment rate climbed to a four-year high of 5.7 percent in July as employers cut 51,000 jobs, dashing the hopes of an influx of youth & teens looking for summer work.

Payroll cuts weren’t as deep as the 72,000 predicted by economists, however, job losses for both May and June were smaller than previously reported. "July’s reductions marked the seventh straight month where employers eliminated jobs. The economy has lost a total of 463,00 jobs so far this year.

The biggest irony of it is that, with gas prices so high; I've heard people complain they can barely afford to go find work (not funny). It's not good to have something bad 4 years straight. More bad news is that it isn't going to get better any time soon.

All told, there were 8.8 million unemployed people in July, up from 7.1 million last year. The jobless rate last July stood at 4.7 percent. More job cuts are expected in coming months.

Chicago Funnies

Randall Watson