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Time Is Running Out
-- November 22, 2002

More than eight million Americans are currently out of work -- that's the highest number of unemployed workers in eight years. And a full one million of those unemployed are about to be stripped of their unemployment benefits. No wonder consumer confidence is at its lowest level in nearly a decade!

Americans are struggling to find jobs. According to this report, an estimated 820,000 Americans will lose benefits three days after Christmas. And an additional 95,000 will lose their benefits each week after that. These are benefits that have already been extended because of the poor health of the economy and the lack of jobs.

Well, businesses haven't created many new jobs lately. Last October, net new job creation was NEGATIVE -- the economy actually LOST 5,000 jobs. In September, 13,000 jobs disappeared. Meanwhile, employers continue to announce even more massive layoffs -- despite what the latest jobless report indicated. In just the last four days, Morgan Stanley announced 2,200 job cuts, Agilent Technologies slashed 2,500 jobs, and Boeing axed 5,000 jobs.

With more layoffs in the pipeline and Americans losing their jobless benefits, we expect consumer spending to sink like a rock.

related article: 1M to Lose Unemployment Benefits