As the Federal Reserve and other capitalist institutions attempt to stave off a recession; the boom-and-bust cycle of the
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The official U.S. unemployment rate rose to five percent in December 2007 as the economy added only 18,000 jobs. And 474,000 more people became officially unemployed that month. Construction workers fared the worst, losing 49,000 jobs. The unemployment rate increase was three times higher for Black and Latino workers than for white workers. Young workers also were highly affected.
Because the capitalist system is run solely for the profits of the bosses, a downturn in the economy is accompanied by mass layoffs. The bosses seek to maintain their high rate of theft from workers by going on the offensive with layoffs and attacks on health care and other benefits.
