6) Twenty-six million Americans are now unemployed or underemployed.
This means we have 26 million people who urgently need to increase their income, and they're quickly running out of options. The unemployment rate is expected to rise further and remain high for several years. "The president's chief economic adviser warned that the nation's unemployment rate could stay ˜unacceptably high' for years to come."
The New York Times reports: "Americans now confront a job market that is bleaker than ever in the current recession, and employment prospects are still getting worse. Job seekers now outnumber openings six to one, the worst ratio since the government began tracking". As this ratio continues to grow, it will lead to a further reduction in wages -- average worker wages have seen a sharp decline over the past year. http://www.mybudget360.com/real-unemployment-situation-approximately-26000000-unemployed-or-underemployed-job-growth-in-10-per-hour-jobs-while-20-per-hour-jobs-disappear/
Economist Nouriel Roubini, a man who accurately predicted our current crisis, just reported on unemployment stating: "Think the worst is over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S. labor markets are awful and worsening". So we can expect that job losses will continue until the end of 2010 at the earliest. In other words, if you are unemployed and looking for work and just waiting for the economy to turn the corner, you had better hunker down. All the economic numbers suggest this will take a while. The jobs just are not coming back. http://futurepredictions.com/2009/04/29/nouriel-roubini-predicts-us-unemployment-above-11-in-2010/
7) As bankruptcies surge across the board, 46 out of 50 U.S. states are on the verge of bankruptcy, with several ready to declare a financial state of emergency. California, Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin are all "barreling toward economic disaster, raising the likelihood of higher taxes, more government layoffs and deep cuts in services." http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/trend-alert-46-of-50-usa-states-could-file-bankruptcy-in-2009-2010/
8) Although the government's official figure tries to low-ball the number, 47.4 million U.S. citizens live in poverty, and the U.S. poverty rate is the highest in the industrialized world. http://www.solvingpoverty.com/PovertyFacts.htm
Predictably, homelessness is rising at an increased rate as well. "The U.S. government does not tally the numbers but interested organizations say that more than 3 million people were homeless at some point over the past year". The fastest growing segment of the homeless population is families with children. http://www.susanohanian.org/atrocity_fetch.php?id=6171
Washington Post report: "The nation's economic crisis has catapulted the number of Americans who lack enough food to the highest level since the government has been keeping track, according to a new federal report, which shows that nearly 50 million people " including almost one child in four " struggled last year to get enough to eat" Several independent advocates and policy experts on hunger said that they had been bracing for the latest report to show deepening shortages, but that they were nevertheless astonished by how much the problem has worsened. 'This is unthinkable. It's like we are living in a Third World country,' said Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111601598.html
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