The Fiscal Cliff

[GunnyGene]

Or the fecal cliff, whichever y'all prefer to think of it as. This from CNN no less:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- More than 2 million jobless Americans will lose their federal unemployment insurance during the holidays if Congress doesn't extend the deadline to file for extended benefits.

And another 1 million who exhaust their state benefits will not be able to sign up for the federal program in the first quarter of 2013, according to the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group.

More: http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/09/news...d=HP_Highlight

And even more good news :

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- America has added 5 million jobs since February 2010, when employment hit its Great Recession low. But the nation still needs to add another 9 million jobs just to get back to pre-recession unemployment levels, according to data crunched by the Economic Policy Institute.

While that is a pretty big number, the jobs gap is starting to shrink as the economy picks up steam. A year ago, the deficit was 10.3 million jobs. And in September 2010, it was 11.3 million.

"We've reduced the gap, but it's still massive," said Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

The improvements in the economy shouldn't mask the continued weakness of the labor market, Shierholz said.

There is still a lack of demand for workers, with 3.8 million fewer jobs in the labor market now than before the recession. On top of that, the labor market should also have added another 5.2 million jobs by now just to keep up with the growth in the working-age population over the past five years, Shierholz said.

To eliminate the jobs deficit over the next three years, the economy would have to add 330,000 jobs a month -- twice the rate it is today. At the current pace, it would take until mid-2020 to get back to an unemployment rate of 5%, which is where it was in December 2007. The unemployment rate was 7.9% last month.

"Let's not forget how far we have to go," she said. "We're in a big hole."

http://money.cnn.com/2012/11/09/news...d=HP_Highlight

Everyone who thinks we are going to add 330,000 NEW jobs per month for the next 3 years raise your hand.

[jedwil]

Originally Posted by GunnyGene

Or the fecal cliff, whichever y'all prefer to think of it as. This from CNN no less:



And even more good news :



Everyone who thinks we are going to add 330,000 NEW jobs per month for the next 3 years raise your hand.

How many layoffs announced this week? After the election.....And just wait until Obamacare kicks in..........It will be a wild ride.

[GunnyGene]

Originally Posted by jedwil

How many layoffs announced this week? After the election.....And just wait until Obamacare kicks in..........It will be a wild ride.

I expect the unemployment rate to shoot up about mid Jan, when all the Xmas help gets canned. I think we'll be back to over 9% by next fall.

Don't forget all those coal fired power plants being shut down, and newly announced restrictions on shale oil development out West.

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-...-from-drilling

The Interior Department on Friday issued a final plan to close 1.6 million acres of federal land in the West originally slated for oil shale development.

The proposed plan would fence off a majority of the initial blueprint laid out in the final days of the George W. Bush administration. It faces a 30-day protest period and a 60-day process to ensure it is consistent with local and state policies. After that, the department would render a decision for implementation.