No Jobs Recovery
Portrait, Robert Reich, 08/16/09. (photo: Perian Flaherty)
he US economy added 162,000 jobs in March. Great news until you look more closely. In March, the federal government began hiring census takers big time. These are six-month temp jobs, and they tell us nothing about underlying trends in the labor market. It's hard to gauge precisely how many were hired - probably between 100,000 and 140,000, although some estimates put the hiring as low as 48,000. Almost a million census workers will need to be hired over the next few months. Subtract these, and today's job numbers are good but nothing to write home about.
There are some positive signs. Manufacturing payrolls expanded a bit, heath care employers added 27,000 jobs, and about 40,000 private-sector temp jobs were added. But payrolls continue to be slashed in financial services and the information industry.
Two big things to bear in mind:
First, government spending on last year's giant stimulus is still near its peak, and the Fed continues to hold down interest rates. Without these props, it's far from clear we'd have any job growth at all.
Second, since the start of the Great Recession, the economy has lost 8.4 million jobs and failed to create another 2.7 million needed just to keep up with population growth. That means we're more than 11 million in the hole right now. And that hole keeps deepening every month we fail to add at least 150,000 new jobs, again reflecting population growth.
A census-taking job is better than no job, but it's no substitute for the real thing.
Bottom line: This is no jobs recovery.
Open Article On Originating Site
CORRECTION: In my March 30 posting, "Fraud on the Street," I stated that a whistle-blower who'd alerted Ernst & Young to fraud had been fired by Ernst & Young. It's actually worse than that. The whistle blower was from Lehman Brothers itself, and he was fired by Lehman when he tried to blow the whistle. Apologies to Ernst & Young. Even bigger condemnation of Lehman.
Robert Reich is Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. He has written twelve books, including "The Work of Nations," "Locked in the Cabinet," and his most recent book, "Supercapitalism." His "Marketplace" commentaries can be found on publicradio.com and iTunes.
|
THE NEW STREAMLINED RSN LOGIN PROCESS: Register once, then login and you are ready to comment. All you need is a Username and a Password of your choosing and you are free to comment whenever you like! Welcome to the Reader Supported News community. |
 18 May 2012
|
 19 May 2012
|
 18 May 2012
|
 19 May 2012
|
 19 May 2012
|
 19 May 2012
|
 20 May 2012
|
 20 May 2012
|
 18 May 2012
|
Comments
We are concerned about a recent drift towards vitriol in the RSN Reader comments section. There is a fine line between moderation and censorship. No one likes a harsh or confrontational forum atmosphere. At the same time everyone wants to be able to express themselves freely. We'll start by encouraging good judgment. If that doesn't work we'll have to ramp up the moderation.
General guidelines: Avoid personal attacks on other forum members; Avoid remarks that are ethnically derogatory; Do not advocate violence, or any illegal activity.
Remember that making the world better begins with responsible action.
- The RSN Team
It worked brilliantly of course [as did Google 6 decades later, another scientific mgt. scheme]. And America has traditionally dominated this benchmark game ever since WWII days, as if the whole world was playing and keeping score by American football. Sounds outrageous? Well, that's the world we live in... GDP worship consumerism; 'both' parties, the MSM, and monied politicians of all stripes salute and sign off on it unthinkingly.
I think Hazel's right. The time for 'unthinking' (as George W. Bush might've said) has come to an end.
“Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slave of some defunct economist.”
- J.M. Keynes, 1936
And I wouldn't sit around waiting for one government to suddenly call another one out over cooking the books... It just doesn't happen, folks. Maybe its all the head of state immunities... or that they, for the most part, consider themselves to be a better class of folks (at the international level) than us unenlightened taxpayers (saps).
We keep refusing to see that the human species has bred too much. At 7.5 billion and rising, we will reach the stated population goals of many religious groups, and we will all suffer even more for it.
Expect more wars, fewer resources, a carrot for dinner if you are lucky, and, in the future, your descendants won't likely be able to afford even one child, much less two, and they will be embroiled in wars and long work hours as they fight over dwindling resources.
How sad that so many, both religious and not religious, are willing to destroy a planet and the people on it, rather than choosing to have fewer kids such that we and generations who follow us can live better.
Humans are, in so many ways, a smart animal, but we are also an insanely selfish and stupid species.
Excellent analysis. Yes, the basic structures of the market that resulted in 8 years of "jobless recoveries" is just producing more of the same. There has been no change; thus, no change in results. Americans have yet to figure out that the value of any economic system must be to the general welfare of the society that supports it. Unfortunately, America has totally bought trickle down economics. But now it is "gusher out" economics, as jobs are gushering out to countries where standards of living are low, pay is low, and sweatshop industries (even software sweatshops) thrive. Only way to counter this is to revive collective bargaining, tax the wealthy, sur-tax the outsourcers, and use the RECLAIMED revenue toward building competitive energy, transportation, R&D, and health and education infrastructures . Now THAT would be change. But Americans are too brainwashed to ever do that. Sooo... set up another round.
And we're all supposed to know that that's a big no-no. What could be less corporate media politically correct (p.c.) these days than the people of a particular geographic territory insisting that the government start acting as THEIR AGENT, not the agent of global capital from G*d knows where or who? Who tells us that such a scenario would be bad? The globaloney corporate media cartel.
Haven't you seen "Inglorious Basterds", and its (perhaps tongue in cheek) assumption that there's nothing worse in this world than a national socialist, or 'nazi'? Don't you know that, in words of Brad Pitt's character, "The nazis ain't GOT no humanity!"?
Now, if you could re-work your suggestions in a way that, say, doesn't sound so nationalistic or socialistic... then you might have something to talk about with the globalist PTB of this world.
“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”
- Abraham Lincoln
Well Gesus Chr*st, I sure hope you are right! I guess I was being a tad cynical in the last sentence.
I respect your opinions and agree with most all of them, but I am wondering why the 'no job recovery' message doesn't have any suggested actions. Are we to remain helpless and fearful?
I heard the President be very measured in his statements. I did not get up false hope. This article gives me no hope at all. Should I just climb into bed and pull the covers over my head?
Unfortunately Ms. Neau, telling the truth does not always inspire hope as taking a clear eye to tragedy will always paint a grim picture. I take the article as a portrayal of truth and will not burden it with the task of recommending a course of action. Too much action is recommended at times without an honest view of the issues.
Suggestions for a better path are in abundance but oddly, get very little air time. I share your angst but truly believe there are answers and by now, I think the truth is becoming abundantly clear to most people. This is important. This sets the stage on which meaningful action can happen.
Hang in there. Growth and improvement though painful will come. Believe. Prepare. Brace yourself.
RSS feed for comments to this post.