2 Million Jobs Lost in 2009 (CNN) (health insurance, house, unemployment)

[Lusitan]

Whew, what a bad year 2009 was, eh? Er, wait ... it's only March?

"For the first three months of the year, 2 million jobs have been lost, and 5.1 million jobs have been lost since the start of 2008.

To put the three-month loss in context, if no more jobs are lost over the next nine months, 2009 would still be the fourth worst year for job losses since the government started tracking the number of workers in 1939."

2009 job losses already have topped 2 million mark - Apr. 3, 2009

Who was the guy on here that compared today with the Great Depression? I just don't know where he came up with such crazy notions ...

People listen up -- if you have a job, now is the time to curtail spending and build up an emergency fund of at least 6 to 12 months of living expenses in FDIC insured bank accounts (you can also create a ladder of 12 annual CDs or 6 six-month CDs, with one CD reaching maturity each month and where each CD represents one month of living expenses).

When you calculate living expenses post-layoff, be sure to include the costs of COBRA health insurance (which can be on the order of $1,000 per month for a family!) in your expenses.

Suze Orman will give you $100 bucks free (no obligation) to setup an account and start saving.

Suze Orman's Save Yourself Plan at TD AMERITRADE

"If you don't save yourself, who will?"

[NatasNJ]

More people today than in 1939. So it is all relative.

[desertsun41]

And some still call this just a recession. By every respected descriptive measure we are in a depression.

[kalim2008]

JD's gonna say, well, there are still millions of other people with jobs

Wonder what he'd say if he was one of the 5 million who lost a job in 2008/09?

[tahiti]

staggering. you almost can't wrap your mind around it.

[Calico696]

The scary thing is....I think we are only at the middle of the downward spiral. I see it getting much worse. I am very thankful to still have my job and beer in the fridge. I am very sorry for those who don't.

[JG183]

in its quest for higher and higher profit margins, Corporate America has outsourced the lion's share of our middle class manufacturing overseas. Lately, they have been doing the same to white collar workers. This is creating a wider divide between the have's and the have-not's.

what kind of jobs remain ? in the 80's I was a teenager working part-time at a banquet house for gas money. Now, these types of jobs are filled with full-time adults, trying to support their families.

about 15 years ago, the company my sister works for closed production of one of its products made in the U.S., and sent it down to Mexico. Then, they found out that the product could be made even cheaper in China, where the product is being made now. They're planning to move even more of their manufacturing to China.

I've seen alot of American jobs disappear. I've also seen Upper management become wealthier and wealthier. Corporate greed will continue to destroy American jobs, until our wages equalize with those of the third world.

One other thing. No empire in the history of man has ever survived when there was a great disparity between the rich and the poor. Unless something changes, our empire will go the way of the Roman's.

[JG183]

Originally Posted by Lusitan

People listen up -- if you have a job, now is the time to curtail spending and build up an emergency fund of at least 6 to 12 months of living expenses in FDIC insured bank accounts (you can also create a ladder of 12 annual CDs or 6 six-month CDs, with one CD reaching maturity each month and where each CD represents one month of living expenses).

curtail spending, yes.

stop spending all-together, no.

do the latter, and it will ensure the total collapse of the economy.

[Lusitan]

Originally Posted by JG183

Corporate greed will continue to destroy American jobs, until our wages equalize with those of the third world.

Well said -- I agree with you wholeheartedly there. People need to wake up to this before it's too late, but unfortunately I doubt they will.

[JG183]

as technology advances, a degree of unemployment was unavoidable -- this isn't just another "cyclical" recession but a fundamental reset, to use a popular word these days.

there are just too many people in the U.S. ! and, consumers simply can't resume the debt-induced spending binge that powered the global economy for most of this decade. Problem is, the rest of the world (especially China), isn't ready to take up the slack.