Job loss forecast: Bleak beyond 2010

By Michael A. Fletcher • THE WASHINGTON POST • June 22, 2009

WASHINGTON — Despite signs that the recession gripping the nation's economy may be easing, the unemployment rate is projected to rise for another year before topping out in double digits, a prospect that threatens to slow growth, increase poverty and further complicate the Obama administration's message of optimism about the economic outlook.

The likelihood of severe unemployment extending into the 2010 midterm elections and beyond poses a significant political hurdle to President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats, who already are under fire for what critics call profligate spending.

Continuing high unemployment rates would undercut the fundamental argument behind much of that spending: the promise that it will create new jobs and improve the prospects of working Americans, which Obama has called the ultimate measure of a healthy
economy.

"Our hope would be to actually create some jobs this year," Obama said in an interview with The Washington Post in the days before taking office.

Obama has defended his economic approach — which includes the $787 billion economic stimulus plan and record investments in health care, alternative energy, education and job training — as necessary to stabilize the shaky economy and point the way to job growth.