The Crisis has Halted, But the Road To Recovery is Long

By: Ellen Frick, Outreach Coordinator, NHS of Baltimore

During President Obama’s State of the Union speech, he asked politicians for unity in bringing the American people out of economic hardship. Indeed, elected officials from both sides of the table are going to have to work together to alleviate what the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has noted is by far the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. These measures take into account both severity and longevity.

Obama told Congress and millions of Americans that the worst of the storm is over, but devastation remains. Unfortunately, the devastation may remain for quite some time as the administration admitted that even with all the spending and other initiatives to create new jobs, the unemployment rate is unlikely to change a great deal by the end of 2010. In fact, the predicted national unemployment rate at the end of 2010 is 9.8%, a small change from the current level of 10%. That number is expected to improve over the next few years, reaching 7.9% by the end of 2012.

Moving forward, Obama stated job creation as the new top focus in Washington. The President’s new budget has allocated trillions of dollars for a new jobs initiative, similar to stimulus bills of the past. In addition, Obama pledged to bring jobs back to the United States by getting rid of tax cuts for outsourcing work overseas. A focus on job creation is imperative due to the painfully high employment rates occurring in all states throughout the past couple of years. More than just being an issue of having a job, unemployment has had widespread effects, such as enhancing the mortgage and foreclosure crisis.

With such a politically-polarized Congress, one has to wonder if law makers will be able to achieve the goal of more jobs for Americans. In attempts to reconcile political differences, Obama met with Republican lawmakers last weekend here in Baltimore. The President invited members of the GOP to challenge him and his ideas about how to strengthen the economy and alleviate the pain that so many Americans are feeling.

For more information about current unemployment rates and economic activity, visit EPI’s Economy Track website.