Disappearing US labor force and goodbye to retirement – Adding 146,000 jobs while 542,000 drop out of the labor force. Understanding the changes in the unemployment rate.
The recent drop in the unemployment rate was largely due to the number of people dropping out of the labor force. I’ve noticed that more people in the press are picking up on the important nuances when it comes to the employment figures. For example, in the last month those “not in the labor force†[…]
Welcome to the land of the poor and rich – Trading the middle class for economic extremes.
The extremes in the US have gotten more pronounced in this economic crisis. It is hard to imagine a country where 46 million people are living with the assistance of food stamps while 6 of the 400 top income earners pay no federal tax. I’m sure that just like most Americans you pay your fair […]
The other side of persistently high unemployment – Underemployment rate shoots up to 15 percent but is actually more problematic because of the civilian employment-population ratio.
Spending time examining the employment report shows continuing trends that appear beyond the headline figures. The number of Americans unemployed or marginally attached to the work-force increased to 15 percent and appears to be a new staple of our current workforce. A key data point is the civilian employment-population ratio that shows a continuing drop. […]
The four horsemen of the sluggish economy – Total credit market debt above $55 trillion, few jobs for many unemployed, the student debt bubble, and long-term compression of wages.
The US economy is facing tremendous financial hurdles in the years to come. The current market is being held together by a flood of debt that is masking underlying issues. Total credit market debt is many times larger than our annual GDP. Student loan debt continues to expand unabated even though the return-on-investment for many […]