Jobless in America

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Job seekers now outnumber openings six to one, the worst ratio since the government began tracking open positions in 2000. According to the Labor Department's latest numbers, from July, only 2.4 million full-time permanent jobs were open, with 14.5 million people officially unemployed.

Despite signs that the economy has resumed growing, unemployed Americans now confront a job market that is bleaker than ever in the current recession, and employment prospects are getting worse. Even though the pace of layoffs is slowing, many companies remain anxious about growth prospects in the months ahead, making them reluctant to add to their payrolls.

The dearth of jobs reflects the caution of many American businesses when no one knows what will emerge to propel the economy. With unemployment at 9.7% nationwide, the shortage of paychecks is both a cause and an effect of weak hiring.

New companies will be crucial to the strength of any economic recovery. Businesses in their first 90 days of life accounted for 14% of hiring in the U.S. between 1993 and 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But this recession is taking a particularly heavy toll on business creation, as sources of smaill business funding dry up and would be entrepreneurs become more risk adverse. When entrepreneurs do launch businesses, they are hiring fewer employees on average. The trends threaten to damp growth in jobs and economic output for years.

Sources: The New York Times, September 27, 2009 and The Wall Street Journal, September 28, 2009

Resources for Job Seekers

Masses of laid-off workers are flocking to the Web in search of opportunities and job sites have been stepping up to meet the challenge.

Some sites, such as www.Vault.comand www.JobCoachTips.com, are providing career counseling and other new services. Vault.com has created a $999 service for job seekers to get two 45-minute career coaching sessions over the phone to help them land a new job. JobCoachTips.com offers a one-hour career coaching session with a certified executive & business coach for $275 and a year's subscription to weekly job coaching tips for $9.95.

JobCoachingTips.com offers 21 job seeking tips for $9.95 plus links to free and low-cost online career self assessments, free interview tips and a link to CareerBuilder.com:

For a Year's Subscription to weekly Job Search/Career Transition Tips, click here:

For 21 Career Transition Tips, click here.

To Find Jobs, click here.

For Career Assessments, click here.

For a free Interview Success Guide, click here.