The Rest of the 7.0%

A couple of days ago, my mom and I went to our local Dominick’s to pick up some snacks for school. We were surprised with the number of people that were waiting in line. The usual number of people at Dominick’s was almost doubled that day. Customers filled baskets, and some even filled carts. Apparently, Dominick’s is closing and announced their store closure sale. With almost everything 50% off, many people in the community took the closing as an opportunity to spend less money on essentials we could stack up on. My instinct was the same. I am guilty of this as well, but a lot people used the closing as an excuse to buy items they didn’t even need. Many customers were happy an excited about the great sale, but when I thought about the situation more, I realized that this closure was actually very bad for some people. Dominick’s is being replaced with Mariano’s in late December, and I thought about all the people that are losing their jobs because of this closing.

The article from the link above says “Dominick’s employee Teresa Torres, who has landed a job at Jewel-Osco, was out taking advantage of the sale Friday. Her cart was filled to the brim.” So what about the employees that don’t have a set job after Dominick’s closes? Do you think they’re happy shopping in the sale? The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that in the U.S., 2009 had the greatest unemployment rate, averaging at around 9.5-10.0%. Since then, the unemployment rate in the U.S. has steadily decreased, and the unemployment rate during November of this year was 7.0%. It’s great that the unemployment rate is decreasing, but what about the rest of the 7.0% that is unemployed? How low do you think the unemployment can ever drop? Does America need a specific percentage of people to be unemployed?