Hand Job

Everything written in this article is based on economic information gathered on Wednesday, August 10, 2011. All sources for claims made in the article have been hyperlinked for substantiation purposes.

The President is talking about job creation.

The Speaker of the House is talking about job creation.

The Senate Majority is talking about job creation.

Your Mayors, Governors and local governments are talking about job creation.

The reality, my friends, is that they are only talking about it. More jobs are not going to be created in the foreseeable future. I have the proof that will make you second guess your desire to spend money on that Career Coach, drop $40,000-100,000 on going back to school to "be better equipped for the job market," or plan any aggressive move to "get your name out there" in this market.

Regardless of what everyone else is saying about bringing jobs back to America, the reality is ...those jobs which have left, and are gone permanently. How do I know? Read on...

I never rely on what media says about anything to make my mind up, so screw those links I laid out before. Here is what I have been monitoring to make such a bold statement.

Monster

Monster.com is one of the Top 20 most visited destinations on the web, out of over 100,000,000 sites. It is the second most visited job site in America.

So how has Monster been performing in this wonderful, "everyone who is important is talking about jobs" environment?

Their stock price, due to the jobs outlook, has dropped exactly 50% since the beginning of May 2011, or more plainly, the last 3 months. The market snapped another 10% off the online job center in Wednesday's trading. Does that sound like insiders are thinking a furious crush of jobs are about to be thrown the public's way? I don't think so either?

To compound the problem, Manpower, the largest temporary staff solutions provider? employer in the world, is down 45% since the start of May, or, more plainly, in the last three months. Does that sound like great things are in the offing for new job creation? I don' t think so, either.

By watching these two companies, and using them as metrics for the future, it is not hard to surmise, jobs are not in the plans for America's near future. Sorry to break it to you, but as Levar Burton used to say on Saturday mornings: "Knowing is half the battle."

Plan accordingly.