June 25th, 2009 by Reed Allmand 
According to an article in the Star-Telegram, new jobless claims jumped last week by 15,000. Many workers facing job losses in the educational system were counted amongst the job loss casualities.
The article said:
“Economists had expected a drop to 600,000. Several states reported more claims than expected from teachers, cafeteria workers and other school employees, a Labor Department analyst said.
The number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment insurance rose by 29,000 to 6.74 million, slightly above analysts’ estimates of 6.7 million.”
It’s alarming to see workers in the educational system being hit with job losses. Education has traditionally been considered one of the safest jobs during a recession, almost immune to job losses. That common assumption is now being challenged. With over 6 million Americans dependent on unemployment benefits, we are seeing a bottleneck in the job market for those scrambling to find work even in the “safer” professions. There are too many workers facing job losses and too few positions available. Companies are cutting back and treading cautiously as this recession worsens. Companies that haven’t filed bankruptcy are implementing job losses and getting “creative” by asking workers to take unpaid leave or work for FREE, as noted in a CNN ( http://edition.cnn.com/2009/BUSINESS/06/25/british.airways.work.free/index.html ) article about British Airways. Could work for free schemes be coming to America? If so, it would be a disaster for American workers who already working from paycheck to paycheck. Many American workers who have been spared job losses are still struggling to avoid foreclosure and stay above water despite their best efforts.
About Reed Allmand
Allmand's vision is rooted in his own financially precarious childhood in Abilene "My father always had difficulty holding a job and supporting our family, so after my parents divorced when I was 12, my sister and I got jobs to help make ends meet," he recalls. "I remember what it felt like as a child to worry that our car would be repossessed or home foreclosed on."
View all posts by Reed AllmandSubscribe
Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter to receive updates.
