NYT: Is a Lean Economy Turning Mean?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/02/business/02jobs.html?_r=1&ei=5087&em=&en=8a73dc22a0bf3e56&ex=1204693200&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=1&adxnnlx=1204639348-wq2Wzd1QTAb/M0mYkJYOyA&oref=slogin

By PETER S. GOODMAN
Published: March 2, 2008

OAKLAND, Calif. — NICOLE FLENNAUGH has a college degree, office experience and the modest expectation that, somewhere in this city on the eastern lip of San Francisco Bay, someone will want to hire her.

But Ms. Flennaugh, 36, a widow, cannot secure steady, decent-paying work to support herself and her two daughters. Nearly two years after she was laid off as a customer service representative at the Educational Testing Service, and even after applying for dozens of full-time jobs, she has been getting by with occasional stints as an office temp.


Illustration by The New York Times


“You’re used to making $17 an hour with benefits, and now you have to take any job for $8 an hour,” Ms. Flennaugh says. On a recent afternoon, she sat in front of a computer terminal at an employment center in a gritty part of town, scrolling dejectedly through online job listings while sending another batch of applications into the ether.

“I’ve literally sat and cried, but my friends with double degrees are doing worse,” she says. “It’s the economy. It’s really bad.”

Now, it’s getting tougher — particularly for those at the lower rungs of the economic ladder, and especially for African-Americans like Ms. Flennaugh. As the economy slows and perhaps slides deeper into a recession that may already be under way, communities like this — cities that have long struggled with a shortage of jobs — see work becoming scarcer still.

Across the nation, the labor market has been deteriorating. Many companies, long reluctant to add workers, are hunkered down and waiting for improved prospects, engaged in what Ed McKelvey, a senior economist at Goldman Sachs, calls “a hiring strike.” Americans with jobs are taking cuts to their work hours; those without jobs are staying out of work longer, or accepting positions that pay far less than they earned previously.

FULL story at link.

My, we're in for interesting times.

:rofl:

Sorry, but Obama's a corporatist all the way. Bye bye middle class.

which is why Edwards got forced out.

However, our government has always been reactive, not proactive. When they feel the peasants are going to be present with pitchforks and axe handles if they don't do something, they finally get off their asses and act.

Roosevelt was slid into office because he was a rich man and they thought he'd play ball. They were surprised.

Perhaps we'll be surprised again by a Democrat who rises to the occasion.

We have no chance of surprise with a GOP. We know exactly what we'll get and the country can't stand another 4 years of it.

I have no faith in either at this point.

And not only that but I keep thinking that the truth of the matter is that McCain is already a done deal.

2000 & 2004 were stolen-what's to stop them from stealing 2008 now?

Only a ticket like Gore/Edwards and they aren't in the race.

siblings during the depression. His father was killed by federal agents because they thought he was making moonshine when he was grinding sugarcane with a mule. He always said he couldn't believe how anyone would vote for a republican after the devastation they
caused in this country during that time. They have tried to re-write history regarding the Hoover administration. Thank God there a an FDR and a Democratic Congress to pull us out of it. Then, thank God, we had a Democrat in the White House during WWII or we would
have invaded Alaska and Hitler would still be alive. :dem:

It sucks, but single Moms are going to have to start living communal lives with other single Moms in order to afford housing where schools are moderately decent.

and vehicle sharing is another way to cut costs..

I can foresee a business popping up..one that "finds" roommates that meet specific needs.

Moms with kids chosen for their specific job shift to complement the arrangement's child care needs, transportation needs and financial contribution capability.

In an odd way, difficult as it would seem, it's also a safety issue that might be solved too.

If a single Mom has the housing, transportation & child care issues solved, she might be able to survive.

The tough part would be going from a one-person-in-charge to a 3-people-sharing responsibility scenario.

Single guys usually travel light and can crash at people's apartments/houses, but Moms with kids in tow, have a lot of "stuff" and need a permanent place to park that stuff.. (I know that SOME Dads may have the kids, but most do not).

3 Moms sharing a 4 bedroom house & 2 cars, would have a much easier time of it, than 3 Moms, 3 cars & 3 2-bedroom apartments ..

Houses these days have garages for storage, and enough extra space inside that could serve as a back-up bedroom in a pinch, if necessary.

My son shares a rented house with 3 other guys..and pays about $500 a month..and that includes access to a 3 car garage, plenty of space and all utilities..even satellite TV & internet..and in California.. Their differing schedules means that RARELY are more than 2 of them even home at the same time (they do get along, but rarely socialize)..

they live in a safe neighborhood and have many more amenities than they could ever get from apartment living.

For women with kids, this would be an even better bargain, since the kids would have a real yard, and a safe neighborhood with other kids....not an apartment complex with people no one knows, moving in and out..and often the apartments single moms can afford are locate din areas with not-so-good schools