In December 2008, the National Bureau of Economic Research’s declaration of an official economic recession was paired with news that our country had already been in the grips of a downturn for a full year. Events such as the collapse and failure of major economic institutions sparked significant market declines and subsequent ripple effects that were felt across Wall Street and Main Street and from board rooms to cubicles in most workplaces across America.
2009 saw some of the steepest job cuts in American history. Unemployment reached 10.1% before yearend and job losses totaled 7.7 million since the start of the recession in late 2007. Beyond economic volatility, the word “change” took on a whole new meaning in 2009 with major shifts in the U.S. political framework. A new presidential administration came into office and quickly enacted a federal stimulus to help kick start the recovery. However, in the fourth quarter of 2009 the initial signs of economic recovery,or at least stability, began to quell months of fear and uncertainty. GDP grew again in the third quarter, initial jobless claims stabilized, corporate earnings showed signs of life, and demand for temporary workers increased — all indicators that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
Lee Hecht Harrison’s 2010 Job market perspectives report explores the current and future state of the labor market, piecing together where the present reality falls on both global and historic scales. It looks beyond the numbers to provide a holistic analysis of the employment situation nationally and outlines the status of job opportunities both by region and industry, aimed at helping you to best position your organization and your career for a successful ride back up.Where we’ve been:
New presidential administration focuses on a stimulus.
President Obama’s $700 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was signed shortly after he came into office with the goal of stimulating the U.S. economy through an infusion of capital that would hopefully spur economic and jobs growth. According to an Adecco Group survey conducted in February, 73% of workers believed that the stimulus package would successfully create the promised 3.5 million jobs and a follow-up survey conducted at the half-year point showed similar levels of confidence in the stimulus package.
In July, the unemployment rate continued to rise, but, for the first time since the start of the recession, the rate of job losses slowed, showing some signs of encouragement around the success of the stimulus package. These slowdowns continued steadily as the year progressed, but skepticism around the impact of stimulus efforts persisted as the unemployment rate broke 10% in October.
Opposing views on the impact of the stimulus package.
" The stimulus will have created or saved about 1.5 million jobs by the end of September 2009."
Congressional Budget Office projection
"Is the private sector actually ready to pick it up once public support is scaled back? We won't see robust growth until 2011."
Joseph Brusuelas, top economist for Moody’s Economy.com
"I don’t see the green sector providing the stimulus that the economy needs...either in terms of jobs or in terms of the positive impact on the trade balance, because the U.S. relies too heavily on foreign countries to source goods needed for a green economy."
Samuel Sherraden, policy analyst, New America Foundation
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