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DAPHNE HOLMES, BLACKLISTED NEWS
Prevailing economic conditions are tenuous in many parts of the world, including the United States. While gloom and doom forecasts are less prolific than they were a few years back, Americans are still working through issues related to the full-blown recession gripping the country in recent years. Some aspects of the economy have improved, including rebounds in the housing market and steady gains in financial markets, but joblessness and poverty remain fixed on the ambiguous recovery landscape.
Analysts point to moderately improved unemployment numbers and other data suggesting the country is doing better overall, but are the impacts felt on Main Street? The answer is complicated, but there are definitely signs pointing to rising poverty in America, including the following problematic trends.
Low Social Mobility
The fabled “American Dream” relies on upward mobility within society, enabling advancements in stature beyond the birthright limitations holding people back in other parts of the world. Opportunity is at the heart of the notion, including access to education and funding for entrepreneurial endeavors. In reality, however, American mobility is faltering, with class stagnation increasingly undermining the Land of Opportunity.
Unemployment and Underemployment
Statistical improvements in the number of unemployed Americans reflect a limited number of conditions within the job market. Unemployment claims, for example, furnish one metric for comparing joblessness over time, but even these numbers only account for a particular portion of the jobless sector. Underemployed parties and those whose benefits have expired are not included in the sample when claims are used to determine employment levels. As a result, today’s workforce may be in worse shape than some of the numbers indicate. During economic downturns, workers also take jobs outside their fields, often at levels below those they’d achieve in their primary professions. When these and other unique considerations are factored in, American unemployment and underemployment point to higher poverty levels across society.