Fact #3

The loss of public sector jobs is a huge obstacle to growth in this recovery.

-         “The public sector is now shedding around 25,000 jobs per month, largely due to budget cuts at the state and local level. Since the official end of the recession, the public sector has lost 430,000 net jobs, while the private sector has added 980,000 net jobs…more than 40% of the private-sector job gains in this recovery have been canceled out by job losses in the public sector.”

Fact #2

Job growth in this recovery outpaces that following the 2001 recession, but is still too slow.

-         “In the 23 months since the official end of the Great Recession, payroll has grown by 550,000 jobs. Twenty-three months after the end of the 2001 recession, payroll employment was down an additional 773,000 jobs. However, the length and severity to the Great Recession means that we are in a much deeper hole…we are still down a larger percentage of jobs (5%) than at any single point of any post-WWII recession.”

Fact #1

1. The real gap in the labor market is now around 11 million jobs.

-         “The economy currently has 6.9 million fewer jobs than when the recession started. But because the working-age population is naturally increasing…we should have added around 4.1 million jobs to keep pace with population growth.”

Economic Trends – June/July 2011

Let’s hear from an expert. Eamon Murphy writes for DailyFinance.com and published “Ten Hard Facts about America’s Economic Recovery” on July 6, 2011. He quoted 10 facts outlined by Heidi Shierholz, a staff economist with the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute.

Current economic news

We are now in July 2011. The Great Recession has officially been over for two years. Do you still believe we are in recovery?

Recently, I heard an economist speak on Fox News. Yes he said, we are in a slow recovery. However, there are three critical recovery components that are not progressing fast enough. They are unemployment, particularly the long-term unemployed, housing and oil/gas prices. Then there is the implication of the U.S. deficit and debt ceiling limit.

Freedom and opportunity

The American Dream is freedom and opportunity, not material wealth.

I agree with the history of the American Dream. It is “freedom” which includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. Not only material wealth as evidenced in the survey.

Wake up and smell the roses!