Another Economic Decline Seen in the American Job Market

The American labour market is still seeing a climb in unemployment rates as an additional 19,000 have caused the rates to increase twice in the last few weeks. The Labor Department has noted the increase saying that even though there may be signs of higher company profits, it's still not enough to initiate additional company hiring. Pierre Ellis, an economist at Decision Economics, wrote, "The very unyielding flow of layoffs now clearly evident, discourages any thought that employers are more comfortable with the size of their staffs."

The federal government's stimulus efforts seem to be fading, as construction and home sales have not increased as hoped. As well, recent economic data shows that most Americans are being conservative with their spending, which has many retailers concerned about their depended on back-to-school shopping season. The Labor Department was expecting a decline in jobless claims for July, but instead, have suffered a rise to their highest level since April. Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities says, "Claims have averaged 463,000 since the beginning of the year, and at this point we still consider the underlying trend to be around this level." The government has noted that applications for unemployment have continued to stay between 450,000 and 480,000 so far this year after a slow decline of 651,000 in March 2009. The numbers are preferred at a healthier 400,000.

The government also noted a total of 4.54 million laid-off and unemployed workers who continue to claim their jobless benefits, keeping the unemployment rate at 9.5 per cent. This does not include the 3.9 million who are currently receiving the federal government's extended unemployment benefits program.

New jobs are expected but it's not clear if they will come quickly enough to make an immediate difference as many companies are still struggling. Cypress Bioscience LLC, for example, says it is downsizing, officially cutting out all personalized medical services business and will be forced to cut 86 per cent of its workers which will affect about 123 employees.

Canadians has been extremely fortunate when compared to our American counterparts. Job and benefit losses have not been as hard of a hit and have allowed many to continue living as they did before the recession. However, there are still some families that could use a little help when it comes to keeping up with monthly bill payments. If you are among those struggling with debt and overwhelmed due to multiple bill payments each month, a debt consolidation loan may help ease your struggle.