Economic downturn? Recession? Let's call it what it really is ...

And being a person who has been in fear of unemployment for more than a year, it's a painful thought.

When the Labor Department reported yesterday that 598,000 private sector jobs were lost in January--pushing the unemployment rate to 7.6%, up from 7.2% in December it was impossible for me to imagine the pain of that many people getting "the word" (a.k.a. the pink slip) in one month. I know the pain of wondering whether I will lose my home, but wonder about those with families--especially with small children--being suddenly unemployed ... with little hope of work in the near future.

I may not agree with many aspects of the stimulus package (as it is called), but certainly believe that Congress should listen to P-BO's impassioned plea and do something ... soon.

But whatever, it sounds like it's going to get worse before it gets better. If there was one thing I learned while getting my second Master's Degree along Friedmaniac lines, it was that the labor market lags behind economic output, and with the U.S. economy expected to contract in the first half of the year, the unemployment rate could reach God-knows-how-high. 8%? 9? 10? Higher? Even with the best-case scenario of an economic turnaround in the second half of 2009, the labor market wouldn't see an improvement--that is, persons returning to work--until at least mid-2010 ... or later.

It may be too soon to be thinking about Christmas time 2009, but me thinks there'll be some sad families and homes during next year's "holiday" season.