The number of job seekers is more than 3x the number of job openings.

[Pale Blue Dot]

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released the October Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) data, which indicates that there were only 3.1 million job openings in the economy, down nearly 25% from the start of the recession in December 2007.



While that's bad, what makes matters worse is that this rapid decline in job openings has been accompanied by a sharp increase in unemployment. In October 2008 the number of job seekers topped 10 million, more than three times the number of jobs available. The acceleration has been startling: the number of job seekers per opening has skyrocketed from 1.9 at the beginning of this recession to 3.3 less than a year later in October 2008. The rapid increase in this ratio clearly indicates the weakness of the current labor market and the difficulty that workers are having finding jobs. Unfortunately, this ratio will likely continue to worsen for the forseeable future, given that in November unemployment increased by another 250,000 jobs.

http://www.epi.org/content.cfm/webfeatures_snapshots_20081210

Even if Obama manages to create 1.8 million jobs with his stimulus package, it's still just a small bandaid on a gaping wound.

[glowing]

1. Yes it is. I would rec to Obama to take 12 months and allow for rent free living.

All mortgages on hold and all rent on hold. This would allow for people to save up, pay off outstanding debts, start new businesses, and give everyone a freeze. During this time, fix the mortgages across the board, allow a % of debt to slide away, reduce the c.c. rate to a max of 10% interest, and put those who aren't in work in a community service role.. fixing properties for maximum efficiency, co-op gardening, senior sevices, children services, daycare centers, arts and music programs. Socialize for a year to keep people from living on streets and allowing them to find their boot straps again.. so they can even begin pulling them on.

[Cassandra]

2. Although I would love to have no rent for a year...

and my landlord could probably survive that, there are many small landlords that depend on the income, if not for profits than at least to pay for building services. Making a major dent in my health insurance costs ($800+ per month) would be more useful for me.

[glowing]

4. If the landlord is free of mortgage for a year, I'm assuming they'd be ok.

Or perhaps charge a cover fee for maintenance..

[sarcasmo]

3. The number is way higher than that, those of us who couldn't collect unemployment and

those that have fallen off the books don't even count.

[liberalhistorian]

6. Not to mention those who've given

up their job search after months or years of fruitless frustration.

[liberalhistorian]

5. No kidding. Hubby lost his job last week

and the pickings are slim so far. And he's over fifty, which makes it even worse. I haven't been able to find a job in this area in the year that we've been living here despite countless attempts. It's bad enough if you're younger, but if you're older than forty, it's much worse.

The only jobs that are gonna increase are the damn debt collectrolls, who feed off of misery and misfortune. But even they can't get blood from a stone. They can just drive people off a cliff while they try.