Too little too late?

The Department of Labour announced that 227,000 jobs were added in the month of February. It was the third straight month where a significant amount of jobs were created and many experts have said consumer confidence in the economy is rising as a result. However, unemployment has remained relatively constant throughout the past few months at 8.3% because many people who had stopped looking for a job have again resumed. There has also been a rise in people quitting their jobs, and people don’t quit their jobs unless they have another job opportunity. Jobs gains have also happened in a variety of areas including manufacturing. President Obama stated that this is the first time since the 1990’s that companies were bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. The President is also likely hoping that these job gains continue and consumer confidence continues to rise as the economy will likely be an issue of much debate come the election. Republicans instantly responded by saying these jobs gains were too little and too late. Will this job surge continue? Are these jobs too little and too late for Obama?

Extending Unemployment Benefits

Since 2008, unemployment benefits have been extended eight times, costing taxpayers around $185 billion dollars. Now, however, Congress is debating whether or not to extend unemployment benefits once again, which would cost another $44 billion.

Some economists say that by lengthening unemployment benefits, unemployment is kept high due to the safety net that is provided to the people.

"That's because people can afford to be choosier about taking jobs when they are receiving a regular check. Others may have dropped out of the labor market -- to go back to school, for instance -- but don't because they want to keep collecting a check."

However, the unemployed and supporters argue that unemployment remains high due to the difficulty in finding and maintaining a job.

Do you think that extending unemployment benefits contributes to the high rate of unemployment? Should unemployment benefits be extended for another year?

Is a college degree worth less?

"Employers and career experts see a growing problem in American society — an abundance of college graduates, many burdened with tuition-loan debt, heading into the work world with a degree that doesn't mean much anymore."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1946088,00.html#ixzz0ZGNogXcL

Because of the growing number of college graduates, competition has increased and looking for a job with a degree isn't as easy as before. With record high unemployment rates for recent grads at 10.6% and with the cost of tuition rising by an average of 6.5% this fall, has the value of a college degree declined?

Though recent graduates do have a harder time getting a job than maybe 30 years ago, the economy does have a factor in this. The recent conditions of our economy have definitely made jobs more scarce and have reduced the amount of new job opening. But even if the economy was back to normal college grads will still have a harder time looking for jobs than about 30 years ago. I believe that even though it is definitely tougher now to find a job with degree, it is still worth a lot and will continue to be. Most well earning jobs would be very hard to get without at least a bachelor's degree or higher. As the economy improves, new job openings will likely open and reduce the rate of unemployment of recent grads. But a big difference is that you won't be able to rely simply on a degree to get a job as easily anymore, you will need to do or find something that distinguishes yourself.

I thought everything was supposed to be improving!

Oh how I love CNN news text messages. This one plainly reads, "U.S. unemployment rate hits 10.2 percent in October, the highest rate since April, 1983. Job losses total 190,000."
When I got this message I was shocked. After hearing for weeks now that the economy and employment was improving, this little text shattered that concept for me.
I never did hear any solid numbers on the improving job market and economy so I guess I can't really have expected the claims to be true but it was something I at least wanted to believe. However, my hopes were false as the economy and job market are clearly NOT improving. Obama's plans are either in vain or have not been set into full motion yet but either way something needs to be done.
What should be done to reverse our declining economy and job market?

The Senate is all about helping those in need.....so hip.

See link in title for the Washington Post Article on this.
When I heard this news I was a little shocked to hear that all of the Senate voted unanimously on a bill to extend unemployment benefits in states that have high unemployment rates. This measure was done to stimulate the economy but I feel like extending these benefits only extends the amount of time people don't have to work while they look for a new job. The money would be much better spent creating new jobs for people instead of giving it to people who would most likely freeload off of it for longer. By actually lowering the unemployment benefits it would encourage people to work harder to find a new job instead of knowing that they can be more lax in terms of finding new work for themselves.
I completely see the merit of this bill, the homebuyer tax credits, and the business tax credit refund that are being coupled with the increased unemployment benefit bill. However, these economy boosting ideas may not produce the best effect. These bills are supposed to make people want to spend more knowing that they are receiving something back for their expenses but handing money back could just result in people saving it for later use instead of immediately spending it and thus stimulating the economy.
I have doubts that these bills will actually end up being effective in the long-run but then again if all of the senate voted yes on these bills then they have to work! right? maybe? I'm unsure!

Tax credit key to ending high unemployment rates?

I was trying to find a current event to blog about and I came across this very interesting article on nytimes.com. Apparently the government is debating about whether or not a tax credit should be given to companies who create new jobs. This is would be an updated version of a proposal created in 1977. I don't totally understand how this would work, but what I got from the article is that the policy created would make it cheaper for companies to hire more workers and that the government "would give employers a two-year tax credit if they increased the size of their workforce or added significant hours of working (for example, making a part-time worker full time.)

I personally think that this whole concept/idea/proposal would probably be a good idea, just as long as employers did not take advantage of it (a concerned expressed in the article). I think that if this policy could be pulled off then it would help the unemployment rate to go down, businesses to make more money, and for our economy to improve and not to be such crap. I am very sorry if I did a horrible job explaining this. I believe if you click on the title of this post it will take you to the article if you are interesting in reading it.

Job openings still declining

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/business/economy/27jobs.html

Over the last year, we've all gone back to our daily lives and most of us probably think the economy is getting better, and it is. However, the job market isn't. Job openings are still decreasing and the unemployed are still rising, though layoffs have slowed down. According to Thomas A. Kochan, a labor economist at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management. “There’s too much uncertainty out there, There’s not going to be an upsurge in job openings for quite a while, not until employers feel confident the economy is really growing.”

But how do we know the economy is "really growing". The less jobs everyone has, the less they will spend, and the less money companies make to give out paychecks. It's understandable that companies don't want to risk the economy dropping again and lose money from hiring people, but at times like these, the companies are the ones holding the economy back. 

-Weilu Jia