Unexpected Increase in Joblessness?

The U.S. unexpectedly lost 85,000 jobs in December after showing a gain in November. This is after the economy showed a gain of 4,000 jobs in November, the first gain in almost two years (Willis, 2010). This confirms that the news of a recovery might have been premature and the signs of recovery (e.g. the increase in jobs in November) may be unsustainable. What is puzzling to me is that the news of a rise in joblessness in December would be unexpected.

Retailers traditionally hire temporary workers to help with the Christmas rush. They hire these employees in November so they can be trained and ready for work the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday. This accounts for the increase in jobs in November.

After December 24, these companies no longer need these employees and have to let them go. After being let go, they are eligible to file for unemployment if they do not have another job. In years past these employees were most likely working at these retailers for a second job so they could have more money for Christmas but in a recession there are a greater number of these employees who took these jobs because they were unemployed.

The truth is that the increase in joblessness in November was not a sign of a recovery. We have now returned to the reality that we are still in a recession and will remain there unless the government provides incentives to the free market in the form of lower taxes and less regulation. However, our geniuses in congress and The White House are determined to pass a massive health care bill with massive tax increases and regulations on both individuals and businesses. In addition, they want to pass a cap and trade (i.e. cap and tax) bill which will tax energy usage, something that will affect every individual and business in the nation.

It is time for the geniuses in Washington to stop the nonsense and get out of the way. We each know what we need to do in order to succeed in our businesses and careers. There are individuals in our nation who have ideas for new products and services that will create completely new industries and thousands of jobs but the threat of massive government regulation and taxation holds them back. What we need is to unleash the creativeness of the American People, sit back, and watch what happens.

We did this in the 1960’s and we were able to put a man on the moon. We did this in the 1980’s and created the computing industry, cell phones, and the Internet. There is no reason to believe that it will not work in the 2010’s.

Reference
Willis, B. (2010, January 8). Payrolls in U.S. drop 85,000; unemployment at 10% (correct). Retrieved January 8, 2010, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aQjqUKCuj_is