We may see jobs growth in January, but most analysts believe the numbers will be anything but robust. According to estimates, the US added only about 13,000 jobs last month. And the jobless rate is expected to hold steady at 10 percent. At a New York City job center, we found a lot of uncertainty and a lot of worry that the estimates are wrong and we may still be losing jobs.
I'm optimistic, but I'm very guardedly optimistic that it will improve. I don't know where it's gonna go on Friday. We've been disappointed before and I really don't know. And you can see it on my face.
Some people we talked to at the job center say things are improving a bit.
To me, it's getting a little better than what it was. Because my girlfriend, she was out of work for like three, three years. She called me the other day and she was like 'Guess what, I got a job.' And I was like 'Good.' But she never gave up and she's been trying for a long time.
I'm seeing more opportunities on the internet coming out and from friends and family who are actually, you know, getting callbacks from companies whereas before we weren't even really getting a letter or a callback from a company.
But callbacks don't always lead to jobs. And for every optimistic job seeker we talked to, there were many others who said their frustration continues.
And it seems like everywhere you go, it's just not fruitful. You know, like you do all these work, but nothing is coming back. So it's kind of discouraging.
Supposedly, our economy grew by, you know, whatever, five percent last quarter. And you know, I think a lot of this is just untrue, you know. And we are going to be finding the worst job situation.
Places say they are hiring, but they're, they're not really hiring. They're, you know, they say it, they promote it, you fill out resumes, but yet they never call you back.
In addition to January's numbers, we are bracing for news that the US lost many more jobs than previously thought in this recession. The Labour Department is expected to announce that some eight million jobs have been lost since December 2007, about 800,000 more than earlier estimates. Chop that up to brand new updated data on what was already the worst jobs crisis in the US in decades.
Maggie Lake, cnn, New York.
Glossary
robust: strong and unlikely to break or fail
guardedly: =cautious
brace sb / yourself (for sth): to prepare sb/yourself for sth difficult or unpleasant that is going to happen
