• Why the jobless numbers are not going down
• “Despite a couple positive signals that we’ve seen, there’s some real worry”
Total Recorded Time is 7:49
The Department of Labor said last week that it counted 1.3 million newly unemployed people across the nation. Outplacement expert Andrew Challenger says while some of those suddenly on the unemployment rolls can directly blame the COVID-19 pandemic, more worrisome is that a large number lost their jobs because of the deepening recession.
“As the economy has slipped into an official recession, there are many more sectors of the economy that are starting to see job cuts announced and pile up,” says Mr. Challenger, senior vice president of the outplacement and executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
On Friday, the California Economic Development Department said the June state unemployment rate had receded to 14.9 percent. That is not encouraging from Mr. Challenger’s viewpoint.
“Despite a couple positive signals that we’ve seen, there’s some real worry,” he says. “Many more cuts are coming from white collar jobs – jobs that had been safe from the brunt of the crisis because they were about to be done from home – are now on the chopping block because companies are facing a real decrease in demand across the board.”
Mr. Challenger talks about the unemployment picture as he sees it in this exclusive CVBT Audio & Video Interview.