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GUEST: Peter Morici, professor at the University of Maryland School of Business and former Chief Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission

The Department of Labor revealed last Thursday that the U.S. economy lost jobs for the sixth straight month in a row. The newly released government data showed that 62,000 jobs were lost in June alone, bringing the total for the year closer to half a million. Private sector losses of 91,000 jobs far outpaced the growth of 21,000 jobs created by the government. For some economists, this streak of job loss, the longest since 2002, is the strongest indicator yet that the nation’s economy is in recession. While the Department of Labor reported a steady unemployment rate of 5.5%, new unemployment insurance applications spiked from 16,000 to 404,000. The stated jobless rate however, fails to incorporate discouraged workers who are not actively seeking employment. If those workers are accounted for, the actual unemployment rate would be over 7%. The collapse of the housing bubble continued to affect the U.S. economy as evidenced by the loss of construction jobs. Even the service sector contracted last month. Many economists are describing the current state of the economy as a slow motion recession in progress. Job losses and slow wage growth coupled with rising gas and food prices do not bode well for consumer spending as the weak economy has no foreseeable relief in the immediate future.

Read Peter Morici’s article here: http://www.counterpunch.org/morici07032008.html