Lost in a mortgage news story: Unemployment for college/technically trained DOUBLED in 6 months

[Bozita]

Thursday, March 5, 2009
Mortgage woes break records again
J.W. Elphinstone / Associated Press


NEW YORK -- A stunning 48 percent of the nation's homeowners who have a subprime, adjustable-rate mortgage are behind on their payments or in foreclosure, and that's not the worst of it, new data Thursday showed.

The reckless lending practices in states like Florida, California and Nevada that were the epicenter of the housing crisis are no longer driving up the nation's delinquency rate. Instead, the foreclosure crisis now is being fueled by a spike in defaults in states like Louisiana, New York, Georgia and Texas, where the economies are rapidly deteriorating and thousands are losing their jobs.

A record 5.4 million American homeowners with a mortgage of any kind, or nearly 12 percent, were at least one month late or in foreclosure at the end of last year, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported. That's up from 10 percent at the end of the third quarter, and up from 8 percent at the end of 2007.

-snip-

The key is what kind of workers are losing their jobs, Brinkmann said. Unemployment for people with college degrees, some college education or technical training - those most likely to own homes and have prime fixed-rate loans - has nearly doubled over the past six months.

-snip-

more...

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090305/BIZ/903050434

[Bozita]

1. kick

[SoCalDem]

2. The piper always gets "paid"..sooner or later

and this collapse was inevitable. When it's the "lower" classes being dumped, people pay little attention. but as white collar types start losing jobs, it tends to focus things..

The health care issue kind of depends on things getting even worse for these "middlers". As long as they had jobs & benefits, media & government could ignore the plight of those "beneath", but when enough "white collars" start to lose health benefits they took for granted, things will change..

[nichomachus]

3. The unions need to really start making inroads

Maybe people will start to realize the necessity of unions. When they were all fat and happy, they could scoff at organized labor as being unnecessary.

[leftofthedial]

4. but if you lost your job (despite degrees and training)

a year or two too early, The New New Deal does nothing for you. Poor you! Try again sometime!

You see, the "social safety net" is every bit as much a crap shoot, luck-of-the-draw venture as the criminal enterprises of Wall Street.