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By WILL BUNCH
The Philadelphia Daily News

THE FEDERAL Reserve Board is widely expected to downgrade its growth projections for the American economyÌý— something the panel has already done in 2010Ìý— when it meets today in Washington.

To which most AmericansÌý— but especially the whopping 6.6 million who have been unemployed for more than six months, by far the most since we started counting after World War IIÌý— would reply with this answer.

Duh!

Yet, it's still not clear whether America's policy makers have truly come to grips with the gut-wrenching plight of the so-called "99ers"Ìý— at least 1.4 million workers who'd exhausted all their unemployment benefits before Congress just barely passed a 20-week extensionÌý— or the fact that some economists fear that the jobless rate could hover near the current 9.5 percent level for perhaps a couple of years. . .

So why can't America find a job? . . .

"Given the very impressive gains we have had in worker productivity over the recent years, companies can produce just as many goods and services as before with fewer workers," said Tom Fomby, professor of economics at Southern Methodist University.

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