As you know this week, I’ve been writing about insurance!  As important as insurance is to the most basic personal finance concepts, it can become a tab bit dry from time to time.   So, I wanted to take a break today and show you the current rate of unemployment and how it’s progressed through 2/5/10.   And, not to worry…we’ll continue with our regularly scheduled program soon enough.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are nearly 30 million people currently unemployed — that’s including those involuntarily working parttime and those who want a job, but have given up on trying to find one. In the face of the worst economic upheaval since the Great Depression, millions of Americans are hurting. “The Decline: The Geography of a Recession,” as created by labor writer LaToya Egwuekwe, serves as a vivid representation of just how much. Watch the deteriorating transformation of the U.S. economy from January 2007 — approximately one year before the start of the recession — to the most recent unemployment data available today.

I thought I would post this as a reference point.  If you have a job you like, you should consider yourself fortunate. If you don’t; well, this is probably a good time to consider doing something new and even that you enjoy.  I mention this because IF you haven’t been laid off lately you may not realize just how competitive the job market is.   So, I’d not take that for granted!

With regards to the economy and growth, GDP growth may be hard to sustain, when you consider that the majority of our GDP is based on consumption.  Currently people are paying off debt and savings rates are increasing, which should translate into lower consumption.  However, nothing goes in a straight line.

So, we’ll keep a close eye on this as the year progresses.   Feel free to post your thoughts on the job market and your projections for GDP.