Um, so George...you were saying something about a strong economy?
Laid-Off Workers Get Lower-Paying Jobs - Labor Dept.
Fri Jul 30, 2004 04:51 PM ET
By Andrea Hopkins
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - One in five Americans laid off from a long-term job in the last three years was still unemployed in January, and most who had found jobs were paid less than they were before, government data showed on Friday.
In a report that adds fuel to the debate over the quality of new jobs, the Labor Department said only 65 percent of the 5.3 million workers who were laid off from January 2001 to December 2003 were reemployed by January 2004.
Another 15 percent had left the labor force and were not counted as unemployed.
Of those who lost full-time wage and salary jobs and found new ones, 57 percent earned less than they had in the positions they lost -- the worst result in 10 years.
"About one-third experienced earnings losses of 20 percent or more," the department's Bureau of Labor Statistics said in the report.
