Think about this. The U.S. needs 10,600,000 jobsjust to get back to pre-recession unemployment rates. EPI:
The labor market is now roughly 10.6 million jobs below the level needed to restore the pre-recession unemployment rate (5.0% in December 2007). To get down to the pre-recession unemployment rate within four years, the labor market would have to add roughly 325,000 jobs every month for that entire period.
Creating jobs has to be a top priority for governments,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, launching the report in Paris. “Cutting unemployment and fiscal deficits at the same time is a daunting challenge but it needs to be tackled head on. Despite signs of recovery in most countries, the risk remains that millions of people may lose touch with the labour market. High joblessness as the new normal can not be accepted and has to be tackled by a comprehensive policy strategy.
Even worse, the OECD estimates it's member countries need 80 million jobs!
The OECD forecasts economic growth across the Group of Seven countries to fall by 3.7% this year, a less brutal contraction than the 4.1% drop projected in June 2009. The latest GDP forecasts for this year provide slightly improved outlooks for Japan and the Euro area, an unchanged overall projection for the US but point to a gloomier situation in the UK.
Now note the OECD has the U.S. GDP growth projections unchanged at +1.6% for Q3 2009 and +2.4% for Q4, 2009. But what is interesting is Q3 is within the margin of error of 1.9% and Q4 projections are at the margin of error, 2.4%.
The New York Times has a great slide show about the OECD's global economic leading indicators (h/t Calculated Risk). It is well worth your time to check it out. As of May 2009, the OECD's indicators suggested a turn to global economic expansion was near.
The OECD member countries global GDP average numbers are out for Q1, 2009 and it ain't pretty. It even beat Q4, 2008 numbers by 0.1%.
Gross domestic product (GDP) in the OECD area fell by 2.1% in the first quarter of 2009, the largest fall since OECD records began in 1960, according to preliminary estimates, and followed a fall of 2.0% of GDP in the previous quarter.
In the United States GDP fell by 1.6% in the first quarter of 2009, the same rate as in the previous quarter. Japan's GDP declined by 4.0%, following a 3.8% decrease in the previous quarter. GDP in the euro area was down 2.5%, following a 1.6% fall in the previous quarter.
Of the Major Seven* countries, only in France, where GDP fell 1.2%, did the rate of contraction ease in the first quarter.
So, it's not just the United States, Income Inequality has grown the most in most countries since the 1980's.
The gap between rich and poor increased in three-quarters of countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development over the last two decades, the group said in a report today
Seems social mobility is also frozen and the few countries where economic equality has improved are France, Greece and Spain. The United States income inequality gap has grown exceedingly.
Recent comments