Unemployment growing at alarming rate

New unemployment numbers show the economy isn’t getting any better.

524,000 jobs were lost in December.  That adds up to two 2.6 million jobs lost last year, with 1.9 million in the last four months.

The unemployment numbers came on the heels of news that truck maker Freightliner announced it’s going to lay off more than 2,000 employees at three North Carolina plants, a headline that’s becoming troublingly commonplace.

Washington is scrambling for a solution, but isn’t finding an easy fix.

“Everyone understands there are no silver bullets at this stage of the game and I think the important issue on the lags in terms of getting the policy into the pipeline and then getting it actually working is really critical,“ explained Bank One chief economist Diane Swonk.

2008’s job losses were the biggest since the end of World War Two.

Friday on Capitol Hill, President-elect Obama’s choice for Labor Secretary, Hilda Solis, gave a glimpse of the new administration’s plan to create three million new jobs.  “We can potentially increase the growth for many, many individuals who fallen off our radar in terms of not being accounted for, even in unemployment lines,“ she said.

Fortunately, some are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel.

“Our assumptions are that the economy will begin to recover early in the next President’s term, but it’s too early to say exactly when,“ said Keith Hennessey, director of the National Economic Council.