An in depth look at the recession

On Tuesday the New York Times asked the question: What does the worst recession in a decade look like?

Conveniently enough, they provided a map of unemployment and job losses over the last year. Beyond the map, here are some highlights of the article that accompanies it. Some conclusions were:

• The recession is deep and broad with every state in the country, with the exception of a band stretching from the Dakotas down to Texas, is now shedding jobs at a rapid pace.

• Unlike the last two recessions — earlier this decade and in the early 1990s — this one is causing much more job loss among the less educated than among college graduates.
• The brunt of the layoffs in this recession is falling on construction workers, hotel workers, retail workers and others without a four-year degree.
• The Great Recession of 2008 (and beyond) is hurting men more than women.
• It is hurting homeowners and investors more than renters or retirees who rely on Social Security checks.
• It is hurting Latinos more than any other ethnic group.
• Though the largest pains have been suffered by the most vulnerable workers, In the long run it may end up afflicting the comfortable more than the afflicted
  

And in opinion the most disturbing fact:

• Recessions often tend to increase inequality because lower-income workers are concentrated in boom-and-bust industries.

To briefly summarize what is happening:

Our economy just went through a 50 year post war period of unheard expansion. What highlighted this expansion was a booming housing industry, a financial sector that supported the world, and until the past several decades we were a manufacturing powerhouse.

These economic strengths created one of the largest middle classes who had wide access to higher education. Reasonable class equality prevailed for many because of a combination of a strong manufacturing core and a educational system that created a large white collar workforce.

With a manufacturing core in shambles, it is important that we utilize initiatives to give low-income persons a better chance for higher education. Coupled with that, we must create incentives to re-establish manufacturing locally in the United States.

The skilled trades are suffering unheard amounts of unemployment and may NEVER recover to support the labor force they once employed. We are in a time of a shifting economy, and it is important we create pathways that transition this work force to new productive trades, whether it be gaining more education or accessing a new trade such as alternative energy.

We must act now to use the resources we can or risk a larger inequality. The suffering of the base of our economy - the workers that provide us the basic products and services we need - will lead to a decreased equity for all American consumers. In a time where our country struggles to fill other needs such as energy and healthcare, it is something we simply cannot risk.