Recession thick, but some sectors still hiring

I now know a handful of bright people – some family, some friends, some young all smart and competent – who are victims of what is becoming a growing economic hysteria, made worse by media… and blogs. This from the Washington Post:

New unemployment figures from the Department of Labor show average new jobless claims for the past four weeks up more than 200,000 from a year ago to their highest level since Dec. 1982.

The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll found job cuts reaching a broad swath of Americans: nearly two in 10 reported they or someone in their household had lost a job in the past few months, and almost three in 10 said their household had been hit with a pay cut or reduced hours at work.” [Source]

That can only affect this freelance journalist, as it does millions of Americans.

I got this e-mail from the editor of an established, successful industry trade publication in the Philadelphia region with whom I have a mutual personal contact:

Unfortunately with the hazy economic picture, we’ve cut back on some of our freelancing… Perhaps things will improve in the Spring, but for now I’m booked up.”

Maybe we’re all pursuing the wrong jobs.

…[There is] a select swath of the U.S. economy that’s been protected – so far – from the bad economic weather. They’re schools and health care providers, information technology firms and green energy start-ups and other firms that, while not thriving, are at least still hiring.” [Source]

I better focus on that technology and multimedia end of my resume. Maybe you should too. Or go back to nursing school.

Photo courtesy of Life Magazine.