Non-recovery recovery: The working class is paying the price

....Bloomberg news service published a report November 18 titled “Economic Data Show U.S. Recovery Accelerating.” The article stated, “Gains in incomes and stock prices are helping households repair tattered finances more than a year into the economic recovery that began in June 2009.”

In spite of the upbeat tone, the figures it cites confirm that capitalists are not taking profits they get by wringing more from workers and investing to expand production, plants, or machinery. To the degree that they are investing, it is largely directed to stocks, bonds, and other ponzi schemes, based on the illusion that somehow money by itself can generate more wealth.

The working class is paying the price. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the number of people out of work for a year or more grew from 645,000 in 2007 to 4.5 million in 2010, comprising a record high of almost 31 percent of those officially unemployed.

Two million workers, who have been receiving unemployment benefits for more than 26 weeks, could see their benefits run out by the end of December. Congress is not expected to reach an agreement extending the payments until after the current benefits expire.

Workers who have collected for 99 weeks are not eligible for more extensions. As many as 91,000 workers hit that mark each week and are cut from the benefit rolls.

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