Highly Skilled And Out Of Work - Long-Term Joblessness Spreads in Middle Class

This Washington Post story (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/20/AR2008012002368.html?nav=hcmodule) looks at a trend that has been very much under reported. While there have been many stories on job growth, few have taken the time to look at what those new jobs entail. Far too many are jobs at the bottom end of the pay scale meaning that when high skilled workers loose their jobs for whatever reason, they often much take jobs which offer significantly less pay and often no benefits. Since the Chimperator lives in a bubble and knows no one of ordinary means, he is clueless about this worsening trend. All of this bodes ill for a quick turn around in the economy. It likewise shows how bankrupt the GOP has become when efforts are being made to put anti-gay marriage initiatives on the ballot in Florida and Indiana rather than attempt to tackle the growing economic mess over taking the country. Here are some story highlights:

In November, nearly 1.4 million people -- almost one in five of those unemployed -- had been jobless for at least 27 weeks, the juncture when unemployment insurance benefits end for most recipients. That is about twice the level of long-term unemployment before the 2001 recession.

The problem is ensnaring a broader swath of workers than before. Once concentrated among manufacturing workers and those with little work history, education or skills, long-term unemployment is growing most rapidly among white-collar and college-educated workers with long work experience, studies have found, making the problem difficult for policymakers to address even as it grows more urgent.

"What has happened is a polarization of the labor market. It was very strong at the very top and very strong until recently at the bottom," said Lawrence F. Katz, a labor economist at Harvard University. "But in the recent weak recovery, and now recession, demand has been very weak" for jobs in the middle.

The growth in long-term unemployment has occurred even as displaced workers have taken bigger pay cuts to reenter the job market. A 2004 study found that workers who lost a job in 2001 to 2003 took an average pay cut of 17 percent in their new jobs, more than double the average cut of those displaced in the late 1990s.

"When people are losing good jobs these days, they have a very hard time getting back to the type of job they had before," said Andrew Stettner, deputy director of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group that presses for more generous unemployment benefits.

It seems like for the skilled worker who has experience and credentials, finding a job that matches their skill and experience is like reaching for the brass ring on the carousel," said Howard H. Marshall, manager of the Baltimore County Workforce Development Center in Hunt Valley. "A lot of people are grabbing for it, and only few will get it."