Unemployment and a double-dip recession — Why we worry

In cleaning out the files after the POTUS visit to Las Vegas, it is important to underline again why employers such as myself worry so much about the high unemployment rate nationally and the Obama Administration's failure to address it meaningfully.

First, let's get the numbers right. Nevada leads the league in unemployment at 14.1 percent. The national rate remains stagnant in the 9-10 percent range.

In June, unemployment rate fell slightly to 9.5 percent. The only reason the rate dropped two-tenths of a percentage point is because 652,000 Americans simply gave up job seeking. Private employment in June added 83,000 jobs, but 225,000 federal census workers were layed-off.

But here's the kicker: To get back all of the jobs lost in the Great Obama Recession, the economy will need to add 250,000 new jobs a month for three years.

Add that to the new slump in the housing market, a slowdown in factory orders, car sales falling 10.8% from May or June and American business watchers begin to raise the red flag of a double-dip recession.

This is why many people who know more about creating jobs than President Obama were more than just a little alarmed when the president told Vegas audiences that the recovery is "headed in the right direction."

It most certainly is not. The June trends say exactly the opposite. And you can't fix the problem if you can't (or won't) see the problem.