Immigration 17

Many individuals have been implying that we are currently heading towards another depression. There is also a possibility that America could end up facing another depression with in the next 5 or 6 years due to some economic problems. On the contrary, we have not experienced a depression since the Great Depression during the 20th century. Some similarities that contribute to the idea that we are heading towards another depression are: unemployment percentages, home foreclosures, and many different economic problems. On the other hand, some differences that contribute to the ideas that we are not heading into another depression are: minimum wages have not decreased, and we have a new president.
    To begin, some similarities that contribute to the idea that the United States of America is heading into another depression is the unemployment percentages. Since October of 2003, payroll jobs have fallen by 2.4 million below the level of March 2001, according to Lee Price. Not only is the unemployment rate 6 percent, it is also rising at a pretty progressive speed. Also according to a report on "Understanding The Severity Of The Current Labor Slump" by Lee Price with Yulia Fungard, a number of factors must be considered in order to understand the severity of the current labor slump: The growth in the working age population since the recession began in March 2001 - Even as jobs were shrinking by 1.8 percent, the working age population (i.e., the number of people of working age) was growing by 3.4 percent. Had job growth kept up with working age population growth over that period, 6.9 million more payroll jobs would have been filled in October 2003. The effect of the "missing" labor market on the unemployment rate - The unusually prolonged loss of jobs has caused an unprecedented number of people to refrain
from actively looking for work, and therefore to be excluded from the unemployment measurement. Had the labor force grown more in line with the population - as it...