Believe it. In these troubled times, when even the least likely join the unemployment lines, there still is a ray of hope for recent graduates. It is a less than ideal moment for those making their way into the working world, but just like in any heroic quest, rewards await for the perseverant, the patient and the chosen. Continue reading →

Ford workers are threatening to leave the Blue Oval without its workforce. Continue reading →

Members of the Hollywood film industry blame the economy’s effect on movie production for the decrease in summer movie attendance in North America. Continue reading →

Observers are holding their collective breath before President Barack Obama’s highly anticipated speech on the economy on Thursday evening, in which he will lay out a jobs creation plan.

Some media, such as 24/7 Wall St, are pessimistic and recall that the seven biggest presidential speeches on the economy failed. Others, like The Nation, prefer to encourage the President, who is likely to face Republican Party resistance:

“Notwithstanding the skepticism and the real political obstacles he faces, President Obama is not powerless to act. In fact, there are many ways he could brighten the darkening circumstances and reshape national destiny. A president has discretionary authority, especially in an emergency, to make seismic changes in fundamental policies—without receiving Congress’s approval or even consulting it in advance.”

The Nation also proposes four big strokes that the President could take to stimulate job creation: “Write down mortgage debt for the millions of “underwater” homeowners facing foreclosure, enact trade and tax reforms to shrink US trade deficits and penalize the off shoring of jobs, let government create jobs if the private sector won’t or can’t, let the Federal Reserve lend direct financial support.”

Meanwhile the candidate for 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination Mitt Romney unveiled his own plan to rejuvenate the American economy this past Tuesday, notably advocating the repeal of President’s Obama’s health care law and the cutting of the corporate tax rate.

Two new polls found low support for President Barack Obama and his economic policies. The ABC News/Washington Post survey found that 53 percent of Americans disapprove of his action and the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll indicated that 51 percent voiced disapproval.

These figures should worry the President if one believes The New York Times, which reported in June that employment data is ironically the key to the President’s job:

“No American president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt has won a second term in office when the unemployment rate on Election Day topped 7.2 percent.”

According to the Labor Department, the unemployment rate held steady at 9.1 percent in August.

On the eve of President Barack Obama’s jobs speech, many Americans face grim prospects in the employment market. Last month’s labor statistics showed an unchanged unemployment rate of 9.1%. A poll conducted by the Wall Street Journal indicated the current recession left a greater impact than the 9/11 terrorist attacks or America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Minorities, in particular, suffer more so through the current economic conditions. One particular group, gingers, make up approximately 1% – 2% of the population, leaving them an even smaller minority than the unemployed. A study confirmed that redheads feel more pain, thus leaving them more debilitated in today’s climate.

Normally, the beacon of color atop a redhead, mixed with a pale, glowing complexion, would stand out from a crowd. But, a report from Orange County, CA (no pun intended) characterized one young man’s desperate attempt to get employers to notice his redheadedness.

The Twitterverse highlights the exponential problems faced by the UV-sensitive group over other hair colors.

Celebrity gingers failed to escape the wrath their average brethren burden. Iconic mascots, Ronald McDonald and Wendy, capture the economic trends against redheads. The Wendy’s brand features its auburn star prominently in its logo, while McDonald’s does not. Over the past five years, Wendy’s stock price lost 72%, while McDonald’s gained 112%, displaying a positive correlation between his absence and stock price gain. Ronald McDonald suffered more setbacks when a group of health professionals called for his retirement.

In media, not even magic can save the most famous redheaded wizard. Despite being part of a billion dollar film project, Ron Weasley joins the unemployed ranks, as the end of the Harry Potter series arrived. Recently Sirius Satellite Radio launched Redheaded Radio: 100 Years of Lucile Ball, leaving, by some estimates, 2,999,999 to 5,999,999 redheads in America without a broadcast featuring them.

One bright spot surround the rehiring of talk show host Conan O’Brien. However, considering his departure from the Tonight Show the year before, O’Brien’s net job growth over the past two years remained a defeated zero percent.

Perhaps because artists are generally assumed to be starving already, creative professionals are an easy group to overlook in discussions of the ongoing recession.  Regardless, the economy has had an impact on their livelihood.  The following links, while by no means pretending to a comprehensive overview, will give some idea of how severe the impact has been, and the forms it’s been taking.

Pianist David Hahn, blogging at musicianwages.com, speculates that musicians are jumping onto cruise ships, sailing the high seas in search of stable wages.

Hahn also notes that transportation costs have put a cramp on tours.  The high cost of travel has also made it necessary for Hollywood stars to fly coach.  Although this Telegraph article is from November, I’ve searched and found no indication that the SAG deal it reports has not gone through, though I am open to correction.

Speaking for wedding photographers, at least, Ed Wolf of the SnapStory Photo blog observes that they are feeling the pinch both in the number of clients they see and the prices they can charge.

Garrison Keillor, in the meanwhile, has recently contended that poets can contribute to the economy by removing themselves from it, and that young people should pursue their passions regardless of profit.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has assembled a comprehensive report on the outlook for artists working in visual and multimedia in the near future.  The short version is that employment for such artists is expected to keep pace with growth in the rest of the economy, such as it is.

And speaking of government, once upon a time wide-eyed art aficionados believed that President Obama would prove a great ally to the arts, or at least a decent friend.  But so far, art journalist Tyler Green laments, that hasn’t been the case.  And given the fraught political and economic climate, one wonders if a turn-around is likely.

Ten years after the September 11 attacks, some local and national economies are thriving, while others continue to struggle.  Continue reading →