Posts Tagged ‘Bureau of Labor’

Layoff Effect Dampening Already Depressed Summer Travel Planning

Today’s Bureau of Labor Statistic job report isn’t as positive as many anticipated, with nearly 470,000 jobs lost in June, up from a slowing in May of 322,000, bringing the unemployment rate to 9.5%.  With today’s news, the total number of job losses in 2009 is up to 3.4 million, out numbering the 3.1 million that were lost in the entirety of 2008.  Clearly these losses are affecting us all – both employed and unemployed, and most of us are making at least some changes in our everyday lives to help counteract the possibility, or reality, of losing all or part of our incomes.

With summer upon us, so is the summer vacation. As one of the largest household expenses this time of year, this is one area in which many people are cutting back according to a survey commissioned by the career website Glassdoor.com and conducted by Harris Interactive®.

More than half of U.S. adults (52%) say they are modifying their summer travel plans in certain ways compared to last year. While nearly three-quarters (74%) say they traveled last summer only 60% say they plan to travel this summer. Of those who do plan to travel, nearly half (49%) are planning ...

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Job Numbers Are Out: Unemployment rate reaches 8.1%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released an update today on where the job market stands.  Employers cut another 651,000 jobs from payrolls in February pushing the nation’s unemployment rate to 8.1 percent – a rate not seen since 1983.  According to a mention in the Wall Street Journal, some economists think it could hit 10% by the end of next year. 

In addition, the economy has shed 4.4 million jobs since the recession began in December 2007, with almost half of those losses occurring in the last three months alone. Unemployment is lasting much longer. As of last month, 2.9 million people were unemployed more than six months, up from just 1.3 million at the start of the recession. And based on a CNN report “That’s the largest six-month job loss since the end of World War II.” 

Per the BLS, here are the highs and lows by industry: 

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