— Young, Out of Work, and Optimistic - Recession Woes Haven’t Dampened Optimism Among Millennials
Gregory says he chose to travel to South Korea to teach English. According to the report, he said: “It’s the easiest way for me to put my education to use, get government-supported health care, a pension, and earn a living wage. And I’m not the only one. There are thousands of us here in Korea. And thousands more in Japan, China, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. All of us young, healthy, and well-educated. But for many of us, the best way to find a steady job or pay off a student loan is to leave America. People like me should be teaching English in America, helping Americans, and paying American taxes.”
Some economists began to refer to the depths of the recession as a “mancession,” since the bulk of the jobs lost were among men in male-dominated industries such as construction and manufacturing. During the recession (defined as December 2007 to June 2009), the economy shed more than 7 million jobs. Men fared worse in the recession, suffering more than 70 percent of the job losses. But strikingly, in the midst of a slow recovery, women have lost 117,000 jobs while men gained 1,140,000—a staggering difference of about a million jobs.
After months of disappointing figures, February met expectations for employment gains, adding 192,000 jobs, the Labor Department reported. But while job seekers may see any upward trend as reason to celebrate, economists cautioned the job market still has a long way to go in this recovery.
“This feels good, but it’s really not getting at the problem yet,” says Al Angrisani, former Assistant Secretary of Labor, who now works with distressed companies. “We’re not creating enough jobs to really drive a long-term reduction in the unemployment rate.”
From journaling to volunteering, there are ways to dampen the emotional pain of losing your job.
An ongoing mishmash of the old and new from U.S. News & World Report. Curated on the side by brownpau.
