Will Unemployment Reach Double-Digits?
Published July 03, 2009 @ 03:57AM PT
June marked the highest unemployment rate in 26 years - 9.5 percent, according to the U.S. Labor Department. Even more concerning is that many of the jobs lost were in industries that tend to be lower-paying, such as service, manufacturing, retail, and construction.
In other words, job losses are affecting those who were probably living paycheck-to-paycheck.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, unemployment remains among the most common reasons for homelessness. This is according to surveys in select communities collected during the annual point in time count (surveying for 'reason for homelessness' is not required, so data isn't available for every community).
There is silver lining, however (if that's what you want to call it). The $1.5 billion bucks in stimulus funds for homeless service providers is slowly starting to trickle down to communities for dispersal. Since the funds are being directed towards homelessness prevention and rapid rehousing, this will undoubtedly help keep vulnerable people and families from having to become homeless in the first place.
But, on the flip-side, the question remains: Without a steady source of income, how long can a household resist the inevitable?
The Obama Administration expects the unemployment rate to exceed 10 percent in the coming months, but insists the economic stimulus plan is starting to show results. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicts the U.S. economy will begin to lift out of the recession by the end of this year, and that employment figures often lag behind.
I hope they're right. In the meantime, let's hope that the homeless prevention dollars have their desired immediate effect.
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Comments (2)
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Author
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Shannon has worked in homeless shelters and service organizations in San Francisco, the Triangle region of North Carolina, and currently in the greater Boston area. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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Scary statistics. Where I live, I see a lot of job loss, wage freezing and hiring freezes. There are other states, like Michigan, Ohio, Nevada and Illinois that are also seeing huge job declines and an increase in foreclosures. Sure, things will eventually get better, but what does the government mean by better? There is nothing good in living without shelter.
Posted by S B on 07/03/2009 @ 05:34AM PT
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I think that this is a direct response to the way that we have handled modernization and innovative aspects towards the way we as an American society have lived life up to now. It's time for a change in the way we view the progression and transitions in lifestyle changes and improvements.
We have raised ourselves to always try to advance and improve the way we live, well now we are at a wall that must be over-come to continue with living life as we know it.
Yes, the unemployment rate will reach the double-digits, the high teens to low twenties before we begin to see any drastic change in the economy of this nation.
Posted by Aaron Shaw on 07/03/2009 @ 09:45AM PT
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