These days, simply shining up your resume or strategically name-dropping in an interview may not be enough to land a paying gig…

• Though it is widely believed the recession is at an end in the U.S., the unemployment problem is still sobering, and the ratio of unemployed Americans to available jobs is at a record high.
• During the economic crisis, many companies laid off employees and took conservative financial stances to prevent losses. That added up to a large pool of jobseekers but increasingly fewer job openings.
• Companies are afraid to resume hiring or try to expand now because they aren’t certain what the economic future will bring. Plus, any increase in overall workload can easily be shifted onto existing employees.

Facts & Figures

• According to July data, there are currently more than six jobseekers for every job opening. In the 2001 recession, there were just over two jobseekers for every job.
• The nationwide unemployment rate is up to 9.7%.
• Job losses have hit hard in every sector of the economy, even in typically high-growth industries like healthcare and education.

Best Quote

“There’s too much uncertainty out there. There’s not going to be an upsurge in job openings for quite a while, not until employers feel confident the economy is really growing.” – Thomas A. Kochan, Labor Economist at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management.

Tags: recession, unemployment