Main Street

More Layoffs May be Coming

There hasn’t been nearly enough job creation to help the (officially) 14 million Americans who are out of work. As I’ve said before, the real number is much higher. The 99′ers and others who have lost benefits, as well as those who were never eligible for benefits, aren’t counted.

Last month’s employment report showed zero net job creation.

From the New York Times:

Job growth halted entirely in the nation last month. And as Europe’s debt crisis acts as a drag on global growth and Washington debates another jobs bill, the possibility of a second recession is increasing in the United States along with the prospects of corresponding layoffs. Mr. Myricks’s tale of pain the second time around, economists fear, could become all too familiar.

With headlines like the 30,000 layoffs planned at Bank of America and the United States Postal Service asking Congress to cut 120,000 workers, it is perhaps not surprising that workers’ concerns about job security are near the peak they reached during the last recession, according to a recent Gallup survey. At least one anecdotal study found that layoff announcements were greater in August than a year earlier.

The last workers in the door are often the first out the door. That could make the Americans who have already depleted their support networks and unemployment benefits most vulnerable to layoffs.

Having a long layoff, followed by brief employment and another layoff, isn’t going to look good on anyone’s resume, especially at a time when some employers are running ads that discriminate against the unemployed by requiring job applicants to be currently employed.

With cuts to state budgets and safety nets, those fears are completely justified. We need to get serious about creating jobs now.