In Between A Recession And A Recovery.

As America continues to endure uneven economic times, layoffs and weakening growth are cause for concern. There is hope, however, for better times in the near future, according to the latest Employment Trends report by the Employment Policy Foundation. The report shows how changing occupational and educational patterns can keep incomes and consumer spending high.

“There is growing concern and uneasiness about the economy,” said EPF President Ed Potter. “But how bad the current economic situation looks depends on your perspective. Compared to a year ago, the short-term outlook is indeed disappointing, but the long-term perspective gives us cause for optimism rather than despair.”

Two factors are helping to keep the economy resilient, Potter said. They are:

Workers who lose jobs find new ones quickly. The unemployment rate remains relatively low, from the long-term perspective, despite slower economic growth, Potter explained. The median duration of unemployment has been 6.7 weeks for 2001, which has remained at or below the 1997-2000 average and significantly below the 8.5 week average from 1991 through 1996.

Today’s unemployment rate of 4.5 percent remains at historic lows for the U.S. economy – less than the 5.6 percent average since 1948 and less than the 5.5 percent average for the booming 1990s.

College educated workers are still in demand. A little recognized milestone was passed in February, when college graduates became the largest single category of workers for the first time in history. For workers age 25 and older, the total number of employed college graduates totaled 35.9 million in July, compared to 32.3 million workers with some college training, 35.5 million workers with only a high school diploma and 11.4 million workers who did not complete high school.

“The strength of the job market for college educated workers is reflected in the strength of job growth in management and professional occupations,” Potter said. “Employment in these occupations grew by 1.1 million despite slower growth between July 2000 and July 2001, while employment in other occupational groups declined by 632,000.”

The continuing expansion of jobs for college graduates, especially in management and professional occupations, is expanding consumer purchasing power faster than the loss of jobs in lower paying job categories is contracting purchasing power, Potter said.

To view EPF’s complete Employment Trends report on the current economy CLICK below (Adobe Acrobat Reader required):

http://www.epf.org/research/newsletters/2001/et20010905.pdf