Labor Market Continues to Weaken
October 2, 2009 by Miranda Marquit
Filed under Finance
After a couple of months of respite on the labor market, September turned out to have been something of a disappointment. Unemployment has hit 9.8%, and jobless claims rose in September. For the most part, the pace of unemployment has been slowing since things reached a high in January. 
However, September betrayed the fact that there is still weakness with regard to the labor market, and that a jobless recovery is becoming more of a reality.
Some companies are also cutting back hours as they continue to try to save money even while trying to avoid laying off too many workers. The work-week is now an average of 33 hours. Part-time jobs are becoming more common as full-time workers are unable to find jobs to suit.
In the end, the economy won’t truly see significant recovery until the labor market can stabilize and find solid footing. It’s a rather vicious cycle in the world of corporate finance. Companies need money to hire workers. However, they can’t earn that money when increasing amounts of unemployed workers have no way to purchase their goods and services. This is going to represent a tight spot in the economy for a while.
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