Job Market Still Not Doing Much Better

Even though the unemployment rate has now been stable lately, hovering at around 8.2%, there are still millions of people that are out of work. However, underemployment is rising and is now standing at 14.9%. Underemployment is what happens when people are unable to find a job in their field of experience and have to settle for a job that has less demanding requirements, but also much lower pay. 

Retail sales are still doing poorly. Even though they have picked up since 2008, sales are low because many consumers simply don't buy as much as they used to before. Lower sales mean less profit for corporations, which gives them another reason as to why they wouldn't be hiring people right now. The problems are not just here in America. Anyone that has been following the news in the past few months will know that Europe also has some serious economic problems and that solving them will take a lot of time. 

The real estate market is still doing quite poorly. Sales of homes and commercial properties are one of the main things that drive our nation's economy forward. But these sales are still at a low point. Foreclosed homes are still sitting empty in nearly every city in the country. Some homes are now being sold for less than 20% of what they would bring in before the credit crisis hit, as banks are desperate to get anything back after foreclosure. 

But all of that doesn't mean that there will be no progress in the next few months. Gas prices have gone down, which is often associated with an increase in consumer confidence. The job gains that were made during the month of June, though remaining quite modest, have still surpassed expectations. For now, it appears that even if growth is slow, the economy is at least growing and not falling back into a double dip recession, which could complicate things a lot more for the country. 

In theory, boosting the nation's economy would involve a few simple things. First, consumers would need to start buying more. Then, as corporate sales rise, this will give an incentive for businesses to hire more workers, thus reducing the number of unemployed and underemployed people. It is no secret that the less unemployment there is, the more consumers are going to spend, which will stimulate the economy even further. The modest gains that America has been experiencing during the last few months could indeed be very helpful in fixing the nation's overall economic problems. We'll just have to wait and see how long it will take for unemployment to fall back to more acceptable levels.