6.3 Unemployed Americans Now Compete For Every Job Opening

As if your job search wasn’t already discouraging enough, this month the Department of Labor reported that there are now 6.3 applicants competing for every job opening. That’s the highest since the recession began.

[Economist Heidi] Shierholz said the economy faces a “jobs gap” of almost 10 million — the 7.2 million jobs lost plus the roughly 125,000 per month that would have been needed since the recession began just to keep up with population growth.

To close that gap and get back to pre-recession levels in two years would require more than 500,000 new jobs per month, a pace of job creation that hasn’t been seen since 1950-51, Shierholz said.

Most analysts expect the nation to keep losing jobs through this year and the unemployment rate to peak above 10 percent by the middle of next year, even as the economy starts to recover.

So cheer up, America. The worst in the job market is yet to come.

Job competition toughest since recession began [USA Today]

(Photo: rchris173)

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