How Even People With Jobs Are Falling Behind

A BusinessWeek magazine article notes: "Buried in the June jobs report is this critical bit of information about the labor market: The average workweek for the month fell 0.1 hours, to 33 hours, the lowest ever recorded for data that go back to 1964. Average weekly earnings, meanwhile, actually fell to $611.49 in June, from $613.34 in May. Hourly earnings remained flat. Economists say the combination of reduced hours and pay, along with continued job losses, could significantly slow a recovery as even the employed lack the means to boost their spending."

The combined impact of layoffs and salary cuts works out to the equivalent of losing 800,000 jobs in June, according to David Rosenberg, chief economist and strategist for Gluskin Sheff & Associates, who was quoted in the article.

Workers who have seen their salaries cut as much as 20 percent are in no position to lead an economic recovery. We need a jobs stimulus that quickly restores lost jobs and wages. We'll have to increase the federal deficit in the short term in order to have an economic recovery robust enough to lower the deficit in the long term.