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Recession Briefing 12.9: Will Jobs Really Come Back?

What you need to know today to survive and thrive in the recession.

“What if the job losses this time around aren’t temporary, the ‘ebb’ part of the ebb and flow of the business cycle?” Caroline Baum asks. “What if employers are hacking away at their permanent workforce?” (Bloomberg)

The recession has slashed U.S. output of planet warming gases and puts the country on track to reach President Barack Obama’s short-term emissions goal, but cutting the pollution further will take more effort as the economy recovers. (Reuters)

One of the oddest phenomena of the boom years was how kitchen appliances quickly morphed into sexy, high-maintenance trophies. These high-flying days flickered out when the real estate market imploded, but they may come back. (The Big Money)

President Barack Obama has put together a grab-bag program to combat unemployment, which resembles the approach taken by recent presidents of both parties, who have leaned heavily on tax cuts to spur job creation. (Associated Press)

“While some upper-middle class marriages may be strengthened, on the margins, by the recession, working class marriages are more likely to be weakened, even as the continued decline of the manufacturing sector makes men without college degrees less marriageable to begin with,” writes Ross Douthat. (New York Times/Evaluations)

More consumers are turning to processed foods, either prepared, frozen or canned and often filled with fat-generating calories, refined grains and sugars. Experts said that’s making more Americans chubbier and prone to obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes in what has been dubbed “recession fat.” (Chicago Tribune)

In a poll of more than 1,000 Americans conducted late last week, 84% of those surveyed believe that the economy is still in recession. (CNN/Money)

Many young workers say the economic crisis has made their generation more conservative, which is reflected in not only their financial decisions, but has also made them less inclined to “job hop.” (Boston Globe)

Most of the struggling homeowners who have enrolled in the Obama administration’s marquee mortgage-relief program still haven’t proved they qualify for help, illustrating lingering weakness in the effort to aid distressed borrowers. (Washington Post)

“This dichotomy of record profits and bonuses on Wall Street while you have real unemployment of 15 percent-plus in this country is very striking,” Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Chairman Phil Angelides said yesterday. (Huffington Post)

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Tags: economy, green, health, jobs, politics, relationships, The Unemployed Life