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In the face of global fears, the U.S. economy is still gaining speed.
American employers added 292,000 jobs in December. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney predicted 211,000 jobs would be added.
For all of 2015, the economy added 2.65 million jobs, the second best year of jobs gains since 1999
The unemployment rate stayed at 5% for the third straight month. That's near what most economists consider "full employment." Unemployment is down by half from its peak of 10
Wages grew 2.5%
numbers dont quite jive...think they are padding the numbers just a little
total employed....dec 2014.............................................. ..............147,442,000
total employed.....jun 2015.............................................. ..............148,739,000
total employed....sep 2015.............................................. ..............148,800,000
total employed dec 2015..........................................149, 364,000
Yes but the LFPR is broken down by demographics. The one age demographic that there is no excuse for is 24-55 year olds. This group is your non-college aged, pre-retirement folks. The group that is your prime workforce ages. Here's how things are going for them:
January 1999, their LFPR peaks at 84.6%.
January of 2007, so pre-recession, they were at 83.4% LFPR.
Today, they're at 80.9% LFPR.
Reality: Although the boomers are having an impact on the LFPR, they're being used as excuse to hide the reality and to discredit LFPR as meaningless. And yet the numbers that exclude retirees them are available and those numbers are not telling a story of recovery. They are not showing positive gains. They tell a tale of the LFPR for pre-retirement ages continuing to trend downward. It is my sincere hope that it has at least flatlined now -- but it's too early to tell.
If we actually gained anything then why is your 24-55 year old demographic continuing to lose on LFPR? That is not positive gains in jobs creation keeping pace with population growth. It's the opposite.
I actually bet the decline in prime working age participation has something to do with the health of our population. Whether by better awareness or actual increase, our young people have more mental illness than ever before and they can't participate in the workforce because of it.
Also of note is that because of massive American prosperity during the 20th century, combined with relatively few children born, many young people don't have to work because of inheritance.
I've never understood why the GOP is so hell-bent on abolishing minimum wage and not increasing it. Each party has their fair share of puzzling stupid nonsense, and this one is a GOP special.
What really needs to happen: Congress needs to hash out a reasonable minimum wage that you can actually survive on, raise the minimum wage to that and then permanently tie minimum wage to inflation. I'd rather see all of that done at a state level, but many red states refuse to do it. With teenagers and college students dropping out of the workforce, minimum wage jobs are increasingly being held down by adults, many of whom have children. And even if it were true that minimum wage jobs were 100% teens and college students looking for spare change, it wouldn't hurt for them to be better compensated since they are vastly more likely to spend than rich corporate execs and put the money back into the economy.
There's a balance to be struck between Pure Socialism and Laissez Faire Capitalism. Either extreme is terrible for America. As with so many things, sanity lies somewhere in the middle.
because increasing the MINIMUM wage will only cost jobs, and devalue the dollar
and there you have it folks.. the mentality of the liberals
everything is the evil corporations
but the problem is the actual factual truth
99% of americans who work...work for small businesses(small companies with less than 500 total employees)
89.8% work for small businesses (small companies with less than 20 people)
most small businesses are operating on profit ratios smaller than 10% (of which most is rolled back into the company)
raising the min wage is a killer for small business.....so it spawns a question...is that the liberals agenda, to kill small business and make the big corporations the monopoly???
the stupidity of the liberals, who JUST DONT UNDERSTAND the ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
It's been a solid year for job growth. It's a shame oil crashed this year and dragged down growth, otherwise I bet obama could have grabbed another 3+ million job creation year to his record.
Still, I was hoping for more decline in U6 unemployment. That number has been stagnant for four months. Considering the stellar job growth over that time this can only be testimony to how many discouraged workers there still is out there and their re-entry into the labor market is stagnating the unemployment rate decline.
another????
obama has just FINALLY passed the bush peak of 07
here are the EMPLOYMENT NUMBERS DIRECTLY FROM THE BLS
total employed Jan 2001....................................135.800,00 0
total employed in oct 2007…........................……..146,743,000
jobs increase under bush 10.9 million from 2001 up till oct 2007
total employed in oct 2008…........................……..144,657,000
jobs lost start of recession oct 07 to oct 08...............2.1 million
total employed in dec 2008…........................……..143,338,000
jobs lost in 2 months after election.. from oct 07 to dec 08...............2.0 million
jobs lost in recession from oct 2007 up till jan 2009..... 4.1 million
Americans Employed, January 2009:.................. 142,187,000
total gain/loss under bush ENTIRE 2 TERMS ........... 6.8 million gain
dec 09 the ''peak'' of the employment losses.................137,792,000
one year after the ''perk'' ..............dec 10....................139,206,000
Could you provide a source for that? Also, I doubt that the 2.6 million is a net gain. It almost never is.
The problem with ignoring ANYONE is that you can't easily tell the difference. There's lots of variables.
For instance, how many human beings actually want to work? I've often joked that my dream job is to get paid millions of dollars to do nothing. It's the American dream, right? Truth is, tons of people don't actually want to work. If they could get by doing nothing, many if not most Americans would be happy to do so.
There are tons of housewives and single mothers who would be happy to work -- for personal pride's sake -- but for one reason or another, they can't. There's also a growing number of parasites who defraud social programs in order to continue doing nothing, despite being perfectly capable of working. And there is a rapidly growing segment of your over 60 crowd who keeps on working well into their 70's. And then there are the unemployed folks who continue living with their parents into their 40's, but actually should be working.
There is no magic statistic that can capture all possible variables. What LFPR provides is a raw stat that simply ignores the variables and reports how much of the workforce is actually working. Breakdown by age, gender and race are available. You can eliminate things like the baby-boomers retiring from the equation to see what's really happening. It is expected that a the number opting out of the workforce who are working aged will remain fairly constant, especially for the 24-55 age range. Properly studied, the LFPR is a lot more honest stat than most of the ones favored by lying politicians.
Employed
Dec 2015 -- 149,703
Dec 2014 -- 147,190
Difference 2.5 million
Not in Civ Labor Force, who want a job, but are not looking
Dec 2015: 5,705
Dec 2014: 6,212
Difference -0.5 million
FWIW: when the LFPR was at its highest the Not in Civ Labor Force, who want a job, but are not looking was in the low 4 million range. It peaked at 7.1 million in 2012.
because increasing the MINIMUM wage will only cost jobs, and devalue the dollar
and there you have it folks.. the mentality of the liberals
everything is the evil corporations
but the problem is the actual factual truth
99% of americans who work...work for small businesses(small companies with less than 500 total employees)
89.8% work for small businesses (small companies with less than 20 people)
most small businesses are operating on profit ratios smaller than 10% (of which most is rolled back into the company)
raising the min wage is a killer for small business.....so it spawns a question...is that the liberals agenda, to kill small business and make the big corporations the monopoly???
the stupidity of the liberals, who JUST DONT UNDERSTAND the ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
min wage should be a local issue...not federal
fed min wage should be ZERO
History doesn't back up what you're selling. Here's a great example:
Australian Minimum Wage: $17.29 after converting to US dollars. Australian Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (so basically the same and the USA and containing all the same statistical cheats.) Australian LFPR 65.3%, which is 3% better than the USA.
If it was a foregone conclusion that raising minimum wage = economic ruin and massive job loss, what on earth is going on in Australia?
Australia did it right. They were smart enough to keep their minimum wage going up to keep pace with inflation. Conversely, here in the USA, every increase in minimum wage is a huge fight. The US Federal Minimum Wage is less than half of Australia's, so why isn't Australia a smoldering hole of economic ruin?
I'm happy to acknowledge that minimum wage cannot be increased overnight. The shock to the system would be too great. But it can be gradually increased and sooner or later it should be tied to inflation so we never have to fight about it again. But the GOP's war against minimum wage is just elitist insanity. The average employer who can pay his people $1 per hour will pay his people $1 per hour. Some level of government intervention is required.
But for argument's sake, can you provide examples from US history where every increase in minimum wage leads to a massive economic collapse?
Employed
Dec 2015 -- 149,703
Dec 2014 -- 147,190
Difference 2.5 million
Not in Civ Labor Force, who want a job, but are not looking
Dec 2015: 5,705
Dec 2014: 6,212
Difference -0.5 million
FWIW: when the LFPR was at its highest the Not in Civ Labor Force, who want a job, but are not looking was in the low 4 million range. It peaked at 7.1 million in 2012.
I stand corrected, you have good numbers backing up what you're saying.
My biggest question is, "Why didn't the LFPR for 24-55 year olds go up??" but I think I know the answer. The over 55 crowd is likely largely absorbing those gains. I'd still like to see strong gains for that prime age workforce before I'm completely sold on America's recovery, but I'm willing to hope.
History doesn't back up what you're selling. Here's a great example:
Australian Minimum Wage: $17.29 after converting to US dollars. Australian Unemployment Rate: 5.8% (so basically the same and the USA and containing all the same statistical cheats.) Australian LFPR 65.3%, which is 3% better than the USA.
If it was a foregone conclusion that raising minimum wage = economic ruin and massive job loss, what on earth is going on in Australia?
Australia did it right. They were smart enough to keep their minimum wage going up to keep pace with inflation. Conversely, here in the USA, every increase in minimum wage is a huge fight. The US Federal Minimum Wage is less than half of Australia's, so why isn't Australia a smoldering hole of economic ruin?
I'm happy to acknowledge that minimum wage cannot be increased overnight. The shock to the system would be too great. But it can be gradually increased and sooner or later it should be tied to inflation so we never have to fight about it again. But the GOP's war against minimum wage is just elitist insanity. The average employer who can pay his people $1 per hour will pay his people $1 per hour. Some level of government intervention is required.
But for argument's sake, can you provide examples from US history where every increase in minimum wage leads to a massive economic collapse?
actually au wage is about 9 and change in the us dollar
to compare min wages you need to....by converting them to a common currency, by using ‘purchasing power parity’. This expresses each one in terms of the quantity of goods and services it can buy. In 2011 the minimum wage was $AU15.50 – the OECD thinks this would’ve bought you goods and services equivalent to what an American could buy with $US9.50.
so australias min wage is not much higher than the usa after all
Australia losing one manufacturing job every 19 minutes
btw....a large number of countries, including Germany, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, and Switzerland, don't have minimum wages at all.
denmarks min wage is 11 bucks (11.70 to be exact) Forbes Welcome
btw...denmarks TOTAL population... 5.6 million
btw...switzerlands TOTAL population... 8.1 million
so swtizerland (about the same population as New york City) is SMALLER than 15 of the states...denmark( about the size(pop) to wisconsin) is smaller than 30 of the US states
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switzerland does not have a min wage...they(their voters) REJECTED raising it up to 22 francs (about 17.60 in the usa) from ZERO
switzerland ''rate'' is 3.7%...but The Swiss do not have the same kind of welfare state and labor legislation that you find say in the USA, which also lowers their natural rate, and which makes adjustment to negative shocks easier. Unemployment benefits are not so generous and they pretty much force you to try to find work again. Swiss jobs are relatively permanent, compared to the United States
seems liberals have trouble figuring out a few things...one size does not fit all.....and the grass is always greener across the fence
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min wage was never intended to be a living wage
min wage is for UNSKILLED workers
look at the INCOMPETENCE of the current lot of fast food workers, they cant even take and make an order correctly
min wage is for the UNSKILLED, there are plenty of people with REAL SKILLS making less than 15-20/hr
by raising min wage to 15/hr, you are DEVALUING the dollar (ie another form of inflation)
what makes you think that min wage hasn't kept up with the government reported inflation???
here is the ACTUAL historical min wage chart, form the ACTUAL government (DOL (dept of labor)
Minimum Wage - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor
here is the ACTUAL todays dollar calculator from the ACTUAL government (BLS (bureau of labor and statistics )
Inflation Calculator: Bureau of Labor Statistics
as you can see in 1938 the min wage was .38 (38 cents)...in todays dollars(2015) it is 6.33
as you can see in 1950 the min wage was .75 (75 cents for those that don't understand decimals) in todays dollars it is 7.30
min wage 1970..... $1.25..........in todays dollars......$ 7.56 (2015)
as you can see in 1984 the min wage was 3.35 in todays dollars that is 7.57
so by government standard....it has kept up with inflation
why raise it at all.... min wage is meant for UNSKILLED workers
FEDERAL min wage should be zero...there are nearly 1500 cost of living economies within the USA...min wage should be set at the LOCAL LEVEL....why cant liberals and those who want to raise it federally figure out that ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL
you raise it and everyone will lose instead of gain
small business lose
skilled workers lose
people losing their jobs lose
most americans are employed by small business, and most small business is operating on a 1%-10% profit margin
we just saw the min wage get raised in 07/09 and it was part of the perfect storm recession
raising the min wage will cost jobs...
raising wages even hurts the middleclass more...why because it wont make them more viable...especially when everything costs more
raising the minwage adds to inflation.. thereby hurting the middleclass
thousands of small businesses are facing situations like this:
Quote:
here is an example of what will happen with this 'raising'
minimum wage is for UNSKILLED currently at 7.20
I pay my UNSKILLED laborers (that clean the shop) over $9 an hour, the min wage is $7.2
an example:
I run a maintenance shop
I have a shop foreman...$24/hr
I have 3 mechanics.......$22/hr
I have a parts manager...$22/hr
I have 2 mechanic helpers...$14
I have 2 parts workers/drivers...$12
I have 2 labors (to clear the shop)....$9 (2 over min)
minimum wage is $7.2
the 'government' raises the minimum wage to 15
now I HAVE to increase the laborers wage to AT LEAST 15.. and he will WANT $17 (2 over min)....but If I give the "unskilled" laborer $17 then the driver (must maintain a clean license) will want more (hey boss, I was making $3 more than the unskilled guy) ...as so on, and so on...
either that or you will make what was 'above' min wage skilled worker to being min wage workers
thus RAISING THE COSTS of my SERVICE that I provide to the society.....
I would to raise salaries on mech helpers, drivers, and laborers...not to mention the actual SKILLED workers....meanwhile the business will end up failing, because it not is too costly to stay in business
so either costs will go up....or people will get laid-off......because as a small shop owner I cant afford to give any more than I am giving
this is just one example of what will happen, if we try raising the min wage anymore
and let's not forget the COST of raising it to 15...those workers are NOT going to see much of a raise....
it also increases the taxes on EVERYONE who fell in that zone
increase of income taxes
increase of payroll taxes
loss/reduction of obamacare/Medicaid/other health care subsidies
increase cost of health premiums
increase of state income taxes (if any)
loss/reduction of social benefits such as welfare/food stamps
so possibly half of that raise magically disappears into the pockets of the politicians
most smart people know that raising it to 15/hr , is a stupid idea
In the face of global fears, the U.S. economy is still gaining speed.
American employers added 292,000 jobs in December. Economists surveyed by CNNMoney predicted 211,000 jobs would be added.
For all of 2015, the economy added 2.65 million jobs, the second best year of jobs gains since 1999
The unemployment rate stayed at 5% for the third straight month. That's near what most economists consider "full employment." Unemployment is down by half from its peak of 10
Wages grew 2.5%
Isn't that the same number, as work visa's that were issued to foreign nationals....
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