According to recent reports, the unemployment rate in 2009 is expected to reach 8.4%. This decrease in economic growth is attributed to rising inflation, the ongoing struggle with the credit and housing markets, among other things. Despite the ‘call for change’, Obama’s first year in office will not likely affect the growing recession.
If there is any silver lining to the gray cloud covering the economy, it can be found in comparing the present day to the country’s history. Even though the rise in unemployment and the growing recession are worrisome in their own right, when we compare them to years past, the dark cloud becomes a little lighter.
During the Great Depression, the unemployment rate reached a high of 24.9% in 1933. The lowest unemployment rate in the time period was in 1930 with an unemployment rate of 8.7%. If the economic crisis can be avoided, our high unemployment rate of 8.4% still won’t be as high as the lowest rate during the Great Depression.
If you need more recent evidence to soothe your mind, November 1982 saw an unemployment rate of 10.8%, during the recession of the 80’s. Again, our numbers today have not yet reached that severity. Since the economy, as well as everything else, works on a cycle, it is not surprising that a recession is impending. Furthermore, a depression would not be an unlikely event if evidence of historical economic cycles can be trusted.
Even though the numbers haven’t reached the double digits as of yet, this does not mean that they won’t. The economy is on shaky ground, and a tumble or spill in the wrong direction could have dramatic and damaging consequences. With a new presidency, there will inevitably be changes. For the sake of the economy, the people, and America, we can only hope that the changes bring better times. For real peace of mind, keep working, and get prepared for the future, whatever it holds.
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