On the morning of September 11th, 2001, four Boeing passenger jets were hijacked within an hour by nineteen Arab terrorists armed with box cutters. Pilots among these terrorists took control of the commercial planes and changed course towards targets in New York City and Washington D.C. Two of the planes were deliberately crashed into the nations political and financial centers, causing fires within the towers, which melted the steel support structures, thereby causing the buildings to collapse completely. A third airplane was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon. Passengers on the fourth plane overpowered the hijackers and caused the airplane to crash in Pennsylvania. This was an attack on America planned and directed by Osama Bin Laden as the leader of Al-Qaeda, a previously obscure anti-U.S. international terrorist organization composed of mainly Arabs. This horrible tragedy crippled the airline industry and shook America's sense of security. Since the attacks of September 11th, unemployment rate has fallen, new airport safety measures have been acquired, and fears of biological attacks on the U.S. have managed to keep America on its toes. .
The events of September 11th did acute damage to certain sectors of the economy. In October 2001 the U.S. Labor force shrunk by 415,000 jobs (MSN), the biggest downward spiral in 20 years. By December 2001, 33 states reported some type of extended mass layoff related to September 11th incidents, 42 percent of which were in the airline industry and 28 percent were hotel and motel employees (September 11 news). Another type of worker whose hardships have been most obvious is the blue-collar worker. Of the total 2.7 million jobs lost since 2001, 80 percent of them have been in manufacturing (MSNBC News). Job seekers" frustration is intense and widespread. .
Forbes 2.
Landing a job has become a torturous and drawn-out exercise for many unemployed people, and the lack of job creation has contributed to long spells of unemployment.
