Jobless Recovery: "No Net New Jobs for the Next Four or Five Years"?
07/29/2009
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Wall Street has appeared peppy in recent days, but the American worker has been warned that a "jobless recovery" is looking more likely [Fed Sees Heightened Joblessness Drawing Out Recovery, Washington Post, July 15, 2009].
A new forecast raised fresh doubts yesterday about how strong any economic recovery might be, as the Federal Reserve projected that the unemployment rate may surpass 10 percent by year's end and warned that the economy may not return to full health for at least five years.

The projections, by 17 top Fed leaders, suggest that a jobless recovery could be approaching — one in which the economy begins growing again in the coming months but times remain tough for American workers. The Fed leaders forecast higher unemployment rates than they had just two months earlier. At the same time, they upped their expectations for economic growth. [...]

The Fed's forecasts suggest that the recovery, when it comes, is unlikely to have much immediate impact on the job market. Most of the Fed governors and regional bank presidents expect that the unemployment rate will be 10 percent or higher in the final quarter of the year, according to projections released along with minutes of a June policymaking meeting.

Former Speaker New Gingrinch appeared on Washington Journal July 24 (WATCH). At six minutes in, he made the following response to a caller's question:
"I think the economy is in continuing trouble. The Federal Reserve reported last week they they expect unemployment to be higher than they originally estimated, above 10 percent. They even more soberingly reported that they believe we could have a jobless recovery, which wouldn't be a recovery in my mind, in which you could have no net new jobs for the next four or five years. So they're projecting 8 and 9 percent unemployment for years."
Facing that dismal future, with 15 million Americans already unemployed, doesn't it make sense to protect the remaining jobs and not allow them to be squandered on illegal alien job thieves?

Legislatively, relief can be found in the SAVE Act, which would pump up the E-verify system to combat illegal hiring. Sen Mark Pryor's press release upon submitting the bill in the Senate noted the legislation's help for the besieged American worker:

Second, the SAVE Act expands and mandates use of the E-verify program — a free and effective program that allows employers to verify the individuals they hire are legally allowed to work in the U.S. The program will phase-in over four years, beginning with the federal government, federal contractors, and employers with over 250 employees. Smaller businesses would begin using the system in a graduated manner. The Obama Administration recently announced that all federal contractors and subcontractors must use the E-verify program starting September 8, 2009.

Pryor said the E-verify program is gaining in popularity. He cited a report by the non-partisan Congressional Research Service that indicates 103,038 employers were registered to use E-verify in January 2009, an increase from only 5,272 employers who were registered in January 2006.

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