Layoff fears part of 'new normal'

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Source: chicago trib



Layoff fears part of 'new normal'
Affluence, college education no protection from job market that cycles quickly through workers

By Barbara Rose, Tribune staff reporter. Tribune staff reporter Darnell Little contributed to this report
Published July 1, 2007

Good skills and a good attitude no longer ensure steady employment, even when the economy is humming. This is the first in an occasional series about job loss and the changing nature of employment.
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But below the surface of a strong economy is an unsettling trend that may be contributing to worrying changes in the school lunch program and elsewhere. Residents seem to be losing jobs at a faster clip. They land back on their feet but not necessarily at the kind of salaries to which they had become accustomed.

"There's more recycling going on, faster cycling," said retired consultant Philip Roussel, who sits on the board of the Barrington Career Center, which helps job seekers in the northwest suburbs. Despite low unemployment, attendance at a weekly networking meeting is up 37 percent.

People find jobs faster in a good economy "but more people are losing jobs than you might think," Roussel says.

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Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sun_barringtonjul01,0,2295198.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed