Job competition in US sets record

The number of job seekers competing for each opening has reached the
highest point since the recession began, according to government data
released Friday. The employment crisis is expected to worsen as
companies stay reluctant to hire. Many economists expect a jobless
recovery, putting pressure on President Barack Obama and
congressional Democrats to stimulate job creation. There are about
6.3 unemployed workers competing, on average, for each job opening, a
Labor Department report shows. That's the most since the department
began tracking job openings nine years ago, and up from only 1.7
workers when the recession began in December 2007. The highest
point after the 2001 recession was 2.8 workers per opening in July
2003, as the economy suffered through a jobless recovery.
Employers have cut a net total of 7.2 million jobs during the
downturn. While layoffs are slowing, Friday's report shows the other
critical piece of a labor market recovery — hiring — has yet to
begin. 'Fewer people are facing job loss,' said Heidi Shierholz,
an economist at Economic Policy Institute in Washington, 'but once
you have lost your job, you are in serious trouble.' The
department's Job Openings and Labor Turnover survey found less than
2.4 million openings in August, the latest data available. That may
seem like a lot of jobs, but it's down from 3.7 million a year ago
and half its peak in June 2007. It's also the lowest tally on nine
years of government records. At the same time, the number of
unemployed Americans doubled from the beginning of the recession to
14.9 million in August. Economists fear the job market will take
years to recover. Shierholz said the economy faces a 'jobs gap' of
almost 10 million — the 7.2 million jobs lost plus the roughly
125,000 per month that would have been needed since the recession
began just to keep up with population growth. To close that gap
and get back to pre-recession levels in two years would require more
than 500, 000 new jobs per month, a pace of job creation that hasn't
been seen since 1950-51, Shierholz said. Most analysts expect the
nation to keep losing jobs through this year and the unemployment
rate to peak above 10 per cent by the middle of next year, even as
the economy starts to recover. A networking group where she once
announced jobs she was trying to fill as a manager is now dominated
by people looking for work. The jobs crisis is likely to have
political repercussions. The last time the unemployment rate topped
10 per cent, in 1982, President Ronald Reagan's Republican party lost
26 seats in midterm elections. Congressional Democrats are working
on various proposals to both provide relief to the unemployed and
create jobs. The House and Senate have both agreed to extend jobless
benefits, though the two bills have to be reconciled.