SF Fed researchers claim jobless increase in US is cyclical; EmploymentCrossing finds 700,000 jobs.

November 09, 2010   |    PDF version

Pasadena, CA  — Two researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco have stated that the present high level of unemployment is mostly a cyclical phenomenon.

Researchers Rob Valleta and Katherine Kuang have challenged the view being increasingly advocated that the country is seeing structural unemployment. The most high-profile advocate of this argument is Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota. Kocherlakota had said that unemployed workers did not have the skills to fill most of the new jobs.

The pair writes in the latest issue of San Francisco Fed's Economic Letter that structural factors account for no more than 1.25 percent of the jobless rate. The total unemployment rate is still 9.6 percent in October. Most of the people who do fall under the structural unemployment category are construction workers. They lost their jobs after the construction bubble burst in 2008. Even for these workers the current situation is believed to be temporary according to the researchers.

EmploymentCrossing CEO A. Harrison Barnes believes that the next few months will see a major hiring drive from the retailers, restaurants and bars. ''The leisure industry, specially the bars and restaurants are what basically created almost half of the new jobs in September and October. For people who got laid off in the construction and manufacturing industries, this is an excellent opportunity to get some work.'' Barnes's website, EmploymentCrossing has been able to find over 700,000 jobs in the last seven days.

Contact:
Roger Croft
Editorial Coordinator
Employment Research Institute
626-243-1814
rogerc@employmentresearchinstitute.com

About EmploymentCrossing:
EmploymentCrossing is part of the Employment Research Institute, which is one of the most powerful and comprehensive organizations dedicated to helping professionals find jobs that will enhance their careers. Employment Research Institute consists of hundreds of industry-specific and location-specific job boards which consolidates every job opening it can find in one convenient location. The website also offers a seventy two-hour free trial to new members.