Reply #7: Job losses from Great Recession about to get worse [View All]

[ozymandius]

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When the Labor Department releases the January unemployment report Friday, it will also update its estimate of jobs lost in the year that ended in March 2009. The number is expected to rise by roughly 800,000, raising the number of jobs shed during the recession to around 8 million.

The new data will help illustrate the scope of the jobs crisis. Analysts think the economy might generate 1 million to 2 million jobs this year. And they say it will take at least three to four years for the job market to return to anything like normal. ...

Wall Street economists expect the January report will show a tiny increase of 5,000 jobs. That would be only the second monthly gain since the recession began. But it probably wouldn't be enough to hold down the unemployment rate, which is forecast to rise to 10.1 percent. That would match October's 26-year high. And it would be the fourth-straight month of double-digit joblessness.

The Labor Department's revisions on employment levels are done every year. They are based on unemployment insurance tax data that companies submit to states. ...

Public concern about persistent unemployment has forced President Barack Obama and members of Congress to shift their attention to jobs and the economy and away from health care reform. The Senate will begin working Monday on legislation that would give companies a tax break for hiring new workers, Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100205/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy

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Really now - job losses and healthcare are tightly connected. President Obama and Congress have an obligation to address these two issues at once by passing comprehensive healthcare legislation aimed toward universal coverage. Healthcare, as a singular expense, is cannibalizing other sectors of the economy, thereby stunting the growth of sustainable job producing sectors.