Today it was announced that the the U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly jumped to a 26-1/2-year high of 10.2 percent last month. The Labor Department said on Friday that employers cut 190,000 jobs in October, more than the 175,000 that had been expected but fewer than the 219,000 lost in September.

A wider measure of labor-market slack, which includes both the officially unemployed and people who want work but who have given up searching, hit a record high of 17.5 percent.

With nearly a fifth of the US workforce unemployed the question becomes, how can the economy ever recover without a well planned and structured effort that includes the resources of government, corporations and nonprofits service providers?

As it stands now the chances of landing a job in this economy are the same as gaining admission into MIT or Harvard.

With all of the gloom and doom it’s easy to become discouraged. However, being a “glass half full” kind of guy, I think of the current economy as an opportunity.

In the past, the problem of unemployment was generally confined to the lowest, and most traditionally underserved, populations. This recession has turned that on its head, unemployment has exploded over the last 22 months and is now impacting all segments of the population.

The economy will eventually recover, the question that companies of all sizes need to ask is, who will these customers turn to for their products and services when they do return to the market? Will it be ones with unrelenting news reports of layoffs, foreclosures, and other negatives, or those that are perceived as helping reduce the strain on families as they struggle through hard-times?

My money is on the companies that turn their financial and marketing resources toward the organizations that are providing food, training, and other services that help support their future customers.

Related posts:

1. What is the Role of Nonprofits in the Economic Recovery?
2. Census Data Indicates That Poverty is Expanding
3. Chevron Announces Partnership to Create New Approaches to Economic and Social Challenges
4. 2010 Forecasts Improvement In US The Job Market, For Some.

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