Lost Earnings Too Much For Recovery

With an average $16,000 in annual earnings, the 28 million unemployed, underemployed, or marginally attached workers in this country currently forgo $877 billion in annual income. According to a study (.pdf) published by the National Employment Law Project, 6 million unemployed will exhaust their benefits by the end of the year. Unless these 6 million secure jobs, which is questionable given the outrageous median duration of unemployment (see chart below), displaced workers' lost annual earnings will reach $1.14 trillion by the end of the year. An economy that's 70% consumer spending cannot recover with lost income of that magnitude.

(Click to enlarge charts.)