Labour force is truly "laboring"

The Labor department reported on Friday that 533,000 jobs were lost last month, bringing total job losses so far this year to 1.91 million. The unemployment rate rose to 6.7 percent, the highest level since 1993. The Labor department massages these numbers. Further, it stands to reason that a number of people have given up looking for a job (so they are not counted among the unemployed), and some folks don't want to admit they are unemployed- might report that they are 'consultants.' The net effect is that the government reported numbers are on the low side- the real unemployment numbers are likely to be much higher.

Some of the impacts of the high unemployment-

• Lower tax revenues- all governors and mayors are lining up for Obama's largesse- a major redistrbution of wealth.
• Lower consumer spending
• Lower savings

But another significant area of concern is health-care. An insightful article in the NYT,
"When a Job Disappears, So Does the Health Care" reveals the painful story of two women. "As jobless numbers reach levels not seen in 25 years, another crisis is unfolding for millions of people who lost their health insurance along with their jobs, joining the ranks of the uninsured. The crisis is on display here. Starla D. Darling, 27, was pregnant when she learned that her insurance coverage was about to end. She rushed to the hospital, took a medication to induce labor and then had an emergency Caesarean section, in the hope that her Blue Cross and Blue Shield plan would pay for the delivery. Wendy R. Carter, 41, who recently lost her job and her health benefits, is struggling to pay $12,942 in bills for a partial hysterectomy at a local hospital. Her daughter, Betsy A. Carter, 19, has pain in her lower right jaw, where a wisdom tooth is growing in. But she has not seen a dentist because she has no health insurance. Ms. Darling and Wendy Carter are among 275 people who worked at an Archway cookie factory here in north central Ohio. The company provided excellent health benefits. But the plant shut down abruptly this fall, leaving workers without coverage, like millions of people battered by the worst economic crisis since the Depression. About 10.3 million Americans were unemployed in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of unemployed has increased by 2.8 million, or 36 percent, since January of this year, and by 4.3 million, or 71 percent, since January 2001. Most people are covered through the workplace, so when they lose their jobs, they lose their health benefits. On average, for each jobless worker who has lost insurance, at least one child or spouse covered under the same policy has also lost protection, public health experts said. Expanding access to health insurance, with federal subsidies, was a priority for President-elect Barack Obama and the new Democratic Congress. The increase in the ranks of the uninsured, including middle-class families with strong ties to the work force, adds urgency to their efforts...."

Welcome to privatized health care, or as Bush put it, the "ownership society" where everyone can "own" her health-care, like owning her house. How many millions do people like Fuld (Lehman), O'Neill (Merrill), Prince (Citi), and others loot from the public, while the poor people who work hard are thrown overboard and are eaten by the health-care sharks (drug companies, insurance companies, and others)?
Of course, given that Bush was elected twice and McCain/Palin got more than 45% of the vote, a big chunk of the public is getting what it asked for.