Jobless Benefit Numbers Hit Record

Did you know that the number of people receiving unemployment benefits has reached the highest level on records that go back more than 40 years. Now that is scary indeed. The Government said Thursday that more layoffs are spreading throughout the economy. Accordiing to the Labor Department, the number of Americans continuing to claim unemployment insurance for the week ending January 17 was a seasonally adjusted 4.78 million. This is the highest since records started in l967. That is an increase of 159,000 from the previous week and worse than economists expectations of 4.65 million. I know in our state thousands have been laid off and more are going to be laid off. Winnebago, one of the largest employers in our area, has cut its employee numbers more than half.

Unemployment Rates in the USA

We live in a rather steady employment environment in this area. However, due to the high prices of gasoline, many of the plants are beginning to shut down a week at a time. Some have gone to 4 day weeks. And yesterday I read in the paper that unemployment had hit a 5 year high of 6.1%. This is usually a time of year when most unemployed people have gotten a job but we still we see "Help Wanted" signs everywhere. But it really hurts when the big plants have to cut back and let employees go who have been there as long as 25 years or more. Sure you can pick up a job at McDonalds or Wendys in a New York minute but it won't pay your mortgage and keep food on the table and it sure won't pay for the gas to get to that job. Winter is coming on and the companies are already letting us know they are going to raise our heat and light bills by 30%. Where is the money going to come from? Retirees are going back to work at part-time jobs to buy their prescriptions and food. They said so far 605,000 jobs have vanished and that employers cut their payrolls 84,000 people in August. That is the 8th straight month of losses. Scary isn't it?