Unemployment refers to a condition in which qualified and willing members of the labor force cannot get jobs. In labor market terms, the state of unemployment is measured by the rate of unemployment. Private firms can participate in the effort to find out the number of people who are not able to find jobs but officially, it is the federal government through the department of labor that is supposed to carry out the research and document all data that is associated with unemployment levels. The significance of unemployment makes it a major issue that neither the federal government nor the citizens can ignore given the fact that is one of the indicators of the strength of the economy (Lebergott 1964, pp.7-8).
The devastating effects of the recession have been felt on all the facets of the economy. But the absence of jobs for the people is the clearest way that shows what this economic problem has done to the way of life of not only the citizens of the United States but the world in general (Ruhm 2000,PP.617-619). The efforts by both the private entrepreneurs and the government to turn the economy around have been impressive. But the rate of recovery has not been fast enough. This has left the people in great anxiety over their lives in such hard economic times. This essay will provide evidence in support of the fact that the unemployment rate will be going down in the future, given the fact that the economy has began picking up, albeit at a slow pace. The most recent data on unemployment as well as other economic ideas will be used as backups for this claim.
To start with, the unemployment rate will decrease because the right action has been taken to stop the recession. It is a common understanding that when nothing is done, it is possible for the conditions to worsen. There may be times when things change for the better on their own, but this is a dangerous path that gives people more anxiety. Taking organized action is sometimes a sure guarantee of a change for the better. If this can be used a premise for the case of unemployment as part of the economy, the government moved in with a rapid response that came in the form of the bailout package. All the major banks whose collapse would have sunk the entire economy and taken the country down into a depression were rescued in a highly well coordinated but heavily criticized plan (Feldman & Stern 2004, pp.21-23). This was done in the hope that these banks would soon gain stability and resume lending to small businesses as well as individual citizens so as to encourage investment and job creation. The results for the bailout are already clear in that banks that were assisted have gained stability and some have even returned part of the bailout money. The expectation is that the managers of these banks will be more careful in future and that they will play an important role in rescuing the greater economy through lending (Feldman & Stern 2004, pp.61-66).In any case, they were going down were it not the government that came in to lend them a hand (King & Wallis 2010,pp.143-144). Thus they have a moral obligation to lend to small businesses as well as other American citizens who want to improve their economic standing through entrepreneurship. This may be an argument based on good faith but it makes a strong case for the unemployment question.
Far from the above, the real figures that are available show that unemployment is decreasing as the banks begin lending and more companies gain confidence and start hiring. The figures show a consistent decrease in unemployment for more than three months with other details showing that the economy is actually on the recovery path (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Situation Summary 2010, para 2-3). A recovering economy is one of the main ways in which jobs can be created for the people. This means that more Americans will be getting jobs and the job losses that the country witnessed a couple of months ago will be a thing of the past. The growth may be slow and the number of jobs created may be few but the truth of the matter is that creating a small number of jobs is far much better than losing jobs (Romer 1986.pp.3-6).
Also, the bottoming out of the recession is an indication of the fact that the loss of jobs by Americans may have reached its peak. The phrase bottoming out as used to refer to a condition of the recession means that the downward trend of the economy has reached its deepest possible point and all that can happen is recovery (Lebergott 1964, pp.89-90).
Indeed recovery is now being witnessed as explained in the above paragraph, which means that it is possible that the recession has bottomed out. Therefore we are not likely to see more job losses. Instead we are likely to see Americans going back to work although this may happen in small numbers from the start. Again as mentioned elsewhere in this essay, this is already being witnessed.
In conclusion, the recession brought about a level of unemployment this country has never witnessed since the great depression. But the right action taken by the government, the recent data and the bottoming out of the recession point out the fact that we are not likely to witness any more job losses.
References
- Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2010). Employment Situation Summary. Web.
- Feldman, R & Stern, G. (2004).Too Big to Fail: The Hazards of Bank Bailouts. New York: Brookings Institution Press.
- King, T & Wallis, J. (2010).Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street (1st Printing ed.).New York: Howard Books.
- Lebergott, S. (1964). Manpower in Economic Growth: The American Record since 1800. New York: McGraw-Hill
- Romer, C. (1986). Spurious Volatility in Historical Unemployment Data. The Journal of Political Economy, (94)1, 1–37.
- Ruhm, C. (2000). Are Recessions Good for Your Health? Quarterly Journal of Economics (115)2, 617–665.