SmallBusinessNewz

Some rather nasty unemployment data came out last week - stuff that made the comparisons between our current situation and the Great Depression look not entirely overblown, after all.  But here's the good news: for small businesses that are trying to hire new hands, this means more folks than ever will be interested in the positions.

We'll hit the statistics first.  The Department of Labor found that the U.S. lost around 524,000 jobs in December, which brought the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent.  Revisions took the numbers from October and November higher, too.

This led to 2.6 million job losses occurring in all of 2008, which makes 2008 the worst year on record (in this one respect) since 1945.

So a lot of capable and experienced individuals will be looking for work, obviously.  Recent college graduates or young people without degrees who are just entering the job market are sure to be experiencing a tough time, too (or at least, on average, a tougher time than usual).

Anyone who's hired under these conditions is likely to be more dedicated and loyal than a business owner could otherwise expect.  Give that - and possible job creation incentives - a thought if it looks like there's room in your payroll.