| Since September 7th when the US government seized Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, there has been a series of public events and an enormous blitz of media coverage which is now referred to as the financial crisis of 2008. The current events include a severe correction in housing prices, consumers and businesses defaulting on their debts, failing financial institutions, slower consumer spending and rising unemployment. The current financial crisis has been likened to the depression of the 1930’s where millions of people could not find work, where the stock market completely collapsed and where a person’s prospects for doing well seemed hopeless for years. I wanted to share a few facts to compare these two depressions to put the current “depression” in perspective.
The unemployment rate at the height of our famous great depression was 24.8%. The current US unemployment rate is 6.1% and expected to rise to 7% by 2009. There is a significant difference between 25% and 7%.
Many experts say the current U.S. economy has slipped into recession because the stock market has lost 30% from its October 2007 peak. During the great depression, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 89% of its value before finally bottoming out in July 1932. There is a significant difference between 30% and 89%.
I could compare and contrast many other statistics but the bottom line is a fundamental difference between then and now. In addition to the unemployment rate and stock market loss not being anywhere near as serious, the quality of life issues like access to food, healthcare, shelter, cloths and other necessities are nowhere near the disparity seen during the great depression. I work at Realmatch.com which matches employers and job seekers so I know firsthand that there is a very strong demand for talent by employers in nearly every industry and in most metro areas. The number of jobs posted by employers across the Realmatch network has actually increased by 6% since September 7th so please don’t tell me there are “no jobs” when Realmatch.com has over 300,000 jobs ready to be matched with your skills. If you are still looking for your perfect job, here is where you can see all of Realmatch’s job listings. If you are looking for work, stay positive, stay hopeful and don’t worry Chicken Little, the sky is not falling.
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