The New Poor - The Economy Shifts, Leaving Some Behind - NYTimes.com

We all read a lot about a "jobless recovery", and this morning's New York Times carries an article about a woman's struggles to find work.

Here's an excerpt:

But there is reason to think restructuring may take a bigger toll this time around. The percentage of unemployed workers who were permanently let go has hovered at a record high of over 50 percent for several months.

Additionally, the unemployment numbers show a notable split in the labor pool, with most unemployed workers finding jobs after a relatively short period of time, but a sizable chunk of the labor force unable to find new work even after months or years of searching. This group — comprising generally older workers — has pulled up the average length of time that a current worker has been unemployed to a record high of 33 weeks as of April. The percentage of unemployed people who have been looking for jobs for more than six months is at 45.9 percent, the highest in at least six decades.

At their analysts' meeting yesterday IBM indicated that it believes it can earn $20 per share by 2015. While this would undoubtably be good news for shareholders (IBM is currently trading around $132 per share), it probably would not be good news if you worked at IBM, since they're probably going to make some of these earnings gains through layoffs.

In short, what is good news for Wall Street is not necessarily good news for society.


The New Poor - The Economy Shifts, Leaving Some Behind - NYTimes.com