Filed under: Earnings reports, Analyst reports, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), PepsiCo (PEP), Employees, Small business, Recession
The banking crisis might be over, at least for now. Paulson’s $700 billion plan has given big banks and brokerages a opportunity to re-balance their balance sheets. Whether they will lend that out is another matter.
But, bankiing is not the largest crisis facing the country as the recession takes hold. Jobs are. Unemployment was 6.1% in September, but if the 1973 and 1981 recessions are any guide, the number could for to 9%. That would put hundreds of thousand more people out of work.
According to Reuters, “Nearly half the U.S. workers polled in a survey released on Tuesday said they were worried their jobs are at risk amid the current economic crisis.” The poll was down by Workplace Options.
Americans have watched massive cuts in the auto and airline industries. That is moving to the financial sector as earnings there fall and mergers allow for lay-offs. But, that’s not the end of it by any means. Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) recently said it was slicing almost 25,000 people. Yesterday, Pepsi (NYSE:PEP) stated that weak earnings would cause it to cut 3,300 people, and Daimler announced that slow truck sales would make it fire workers in Canada and the US.
The reality is that as more and more companies post poor earnings, more and more people will loss their jobs. Small businesses are the largest employers in the US. Most can’t get access to capital because of the credit crunch. That means more people out of work.
The recession is growing. Some economists believe it could last four or five quarters. Joblessness in the US is about to skyrocket.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.
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