Shock US jobs report ends hope of ‘snap back’ recovery
Ramin Mazaheri
Press TV, Chicago
Grim unemployment data in the United States has many admitting that temporary job cuts due to coronavirus lockdowns are increasingly becoming permanent.
United States corporate media is unable to put any positive spin on the number of new jobs produced in November coming in at whopping 60 percent under the initial prediction.
It’s the lowest monthly addition of jobs since April, coincides with a tripling in long-term unemployment since only September, and makes clear that temporary unemployment caused by coronavirus lockdowns have repeatedly led to permanent job losses.
The jobs report may be the final nail in the coffin in the promise of a “snapback economic recovery” which was so widely touted in the mainstream media last spring. A “social recovery” for the long-term unemployed and their dependents will likely be even more elusive.
As seen following the 2008 recession in the US, the social effects of long-term unemployment include mental health problems, increased drug and alcohol addiction, an erosion of employable skills and lasting family dysfunction.
With stocks just having their best November ever, it’s now clear that the US has had a “K-shaped recovery”, with the rich and poor classes headed in opposite directions.
The second wave of coronavirus has hit - lockdowns and not more funding for health care is again America’s solution. The new lockdowns are being called a “gift to Amazon” by small local business groups and will likely worsen the already bad unemployment situation, just as they did in spring.
At the same time, pandemic stimulus unemployment benefits are scheduled to run out the day after Christmas for 15 million people.
Data from MIT university estimated that the Paycheck Protection Program from the first and only federal stimulus plan spent nearly a quarter of a million dollars to save each job. However, the maximum compensation to workers was capped at $100,000; the annual median personal income is just $33,000 - it’s caused many to wonder where the money for jobs really went.
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