Prayer for Permanent Job Losers

Welcome back to Weekly Prayer, a newsletter for today’s rapidly changing world. Today, we will be covering recent unemployment data and praying for those who have permanently lost their jobs. Let’s dive into it.

News Item: Permanent Job Losses Rise to 4.5 Million

On October 2nd, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published rather alarming statistics. According to the BLS September report, 3.8 million people have lost permanent jobs and 742,000 have completed temporary jobs; combined, these figures point to 4.5 million cumulative permanent job losses at the end of September. According to CNN, “the number of permanent job losers among the unemployed has more than doubled in the last six months, the fastest pace of increase on record.”

The good news is that millions of workers who were laid off have returned to work, lifting the total number of US jobs every month since the peak of job losses in April. However, the 4.5 million figure and the road to it is revealing of a structural problem in the job market that might cause long-term damage to our economy.

"If we are on path to only be two-thirds recovered and then have millions of businesses go under and the jobs there be lost forever, we will be years trying to get back onto the path we were on before,” said Austan Goolsbee, the former economic adviser to President Obama.

Prayer: Prayer for Permanent Job Losers

“Lord, having seen that permanent job losers in the US now total 4.5 million, we ask you for protection. We ask you to protect those who have lost their jobs so that they can put food on the table for their loved ones. We also ask you to protect our economy, which is showing signs of weakness. Infuse us with your love so we can remain calm and serve each other in these confusing times. Amen.”

Thanks for reading Weekly Prayer. If you enjoyed reading this newsletter, share it with your friends and ask them to subscribe.

See you all next week.

Hernán