Our stonewashed jeans economy

Let's take a trip back to 1983:

• Michael Jackson first performs the moonwalk.
• Margaret Thatcher wins in a landslide.
• Ronald Reagan proposes a "Star Wars" defense system to intercept Soviet missiles.
• The U.S. jobless rate hits 10.2 percent.

Michael, Margaret and Ronald may be gone from the global scene, but the U.S. labor market might as well be wearing tight stonewashed jeans and humming Culture Club's "Do you really want to hurt me."

It hasn't been this bad in 26 years.

The U.S. economy, the world's largest, shed 190,000 jobs last month. The jobless rate rose from 9.8 percent in September to 10.2 percent.

So while the overall picture is improving, most economists don't expect the labor pains to end until next year, as unemployment is a "lagging indicator." (Meaning: it's often the last thing to improve as things get better).

“There’s no doubt that the slashing and burning of jobs has abated quite a lot,” Allen L. Sinai, the founder of Decision Economics, told the New York Times. “The economy is recovering, but it is a very soft recovery.”

Boy George could not be reached for comment.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/commerce/091106/our-stone-washed-jeans-economy