Washington – Employers slashed 663,000 jobs in March, lifting the unemployment rate to 8.5 percent, the highest since 1983, official data showed on Friday in a report underscoring the growing distress in the labor market.
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The Labor Department also revised January data to show job losses of 741,000 that month, the biggest decline since October 1949, as the economy battles a recession that has entered its 16th month.
The decline in non-farm payrolls in February was unrevised at 651,000.
Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast non-farm payrolls falling 650,000 in March. They had forecast the unemployment rate rising to 8.5 percent from 8.1 percent the prior month.
Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the economy has shed 5.1 million jobs, with about two thirds of the losses occurring in the last five months, the department said.
The manufacturing sector shed 161,000 jobs in March, after eliminating 169,000 positions the prior month. Construction industries lost 126,000 jobs after bleeding 107,000 in February. The service-providing industry axed 358,000 positions after shedding 366,000 in February.
Let’s not forget. Even many people who still have there jobs, also lost of there commission or salaries.
“Heib ouf Deina Hentilich Tzim Taten in Himel”
This is terrible. I will be out of work in the next few weeks myself. I don’t have another job yet. There are jobs out there. I am a career professional. I accept that it is unlikely that I will find a job in my field this year. I am fully prepared to push a lawn mower, or paint houses, or clean pools, or mop toilets, or whatever else I need to do in order to feed my family.
I have had several friends lose their homes because they were too “proud” to take a job that was “beneath” them. There is no shame in putting in a hard day’s work, no matter what the job is. I know that social assistance is available, but you have to resist taking it. That is just more money going out. Taking that money means you are OK with pushing your neighbors (who are barely holding on themselves) into the boat with you as they will have to pay more in taxes, etc.
I posted a link to an online magazine for mothers who want to work at home in a previous post but I guess it got rejected for “advertising”. There are great opportunities to do customer service at home part time – I did it when I needed money. Don’t fall for the scams though… nearly all of the major companies that do service for HSN, Dell, Sunbeam Products, etc. use work at home agents and you can apply directly with them. Men, there are jobs out there, if you are willing to swallow your pride. My grandfathers were laborers… one was a butcher and one worked on the docks unloading produce. They were very proud men, not because of the “prestige” (or lack thereof) of the job… but because they worked hard, fed their families, and still found time to learn and do mitzvos.
If you currently use an ‘illegal’ babysitter, don’t be afraid to go to your neighbor quietly and ask if they would like the job instead.
If you have an ‘illegal’ maid, don’t be afraid to ask a rav in your neighborhood if there is someone struggling in our community who might be willing to do the job right now.
I am begging everyone here… if you know someone who has lost their job and is falling… PLEASE help them. Help them to realize that they may have to work for less… and do a job that they see as “beneath” them… Let them know it is okay… and that they are respected not for their job title, but for their determination to build and support their children in being oseik b’mitzvoh.
If you really NEED it, there are plenty of groups that can help you through the rough spots. Don’t be afraid to ask.
Many people live above their means. It is important to remember no matter how wealthy or not wealthy we become or are that we as jews live modestly.