…63-year-old [Phyllis Swenson of] Fairfax, Virginia, resident is among millions of Americans who haven\u2019t rebounded with the improving U.S. economy. Part-time work at Vienna Presbyterian doesn\u2019t pay all her bills, and almost a year of futile job-hunting has left her desperate.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecovery?\u201d\u009d she scoffs. \u201cHow are we recovering?\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n
The labor market has staged a strong comeback: Unemployment is 4.7 percent, down from 9.5 percent when the economy started expanding in June 2009. Employers have added an average 150,000 jobs a month this year, though May slowed to just 38,000. The rate at which people quit, a handy measure of job mobility, is trending up.
Yet some Americans still feel a deep sense of betrayal. Their journey back to meaningful work has been brutal — if they even arrived — leaving them with depleted savings, increased debt, homes lost to lenders and for some, long searches that stripped away their most valuable possession: self-esteem. Many who did find jobs now earn less, with fewer benefits.<\/p>\n
This has helped fuel Donald Trump\u2019s improbable rise and Bernie Sanders\u2019s strong challenge to Hillary Clinton. Thousands cheer at rallies when the Republican front-runner claims he\u2019ll put people back to work and the Democratic contender rails against income inequality.<\/p>\n