MIXED EMPLOYMENT DATA …
The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs in July, according to government statistics – slightly below the 230,000 expected by analysts. Meanwhile June’s robust job growth – which was driven exclusively by part-time positions – was revised upward, from 288,000 to 298,000.
The nation’s unemployment rate ticked up from 6.1 to 6.2 percent – while the more telling labor participation rate inched up from 62.8 to 62.9 percent. A total of 92 million working age Americans remained out of the work force, though, down incrementally from June’s 92.1 million print.
To view the data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) – which you always should take with an ocean of salt – click on the link at the end of this article.
Ready to parse the good news/ bad news?
First let’s look at an optimistic point: Job growth eclipsed 200,000 for the sixth consecutive month – the first time that’s happened in over a decade. The total employment gains seen over the last six months are also the strongest on record since 2006.
July also saw an uptick in full-time employment (+285,000) after a decline of 523,000 full-time positions in June.
The bad news? While the economy has technically made up all of the 8.7 million positions it lost during the recent recession – it has failed to make up for our growing population (documented or not). Also wage growth and income levels have been declining on an inflation-adjusted basis – which has hamstrung the ability of the consumer economy to rebound.
For a recent report on that, CLICK HERE.
Wages climbed just one cent in July to an average of $24.45 an hour. That’s up by more than 2 percent over the course of the past year – but all of that increase (and then some) has been eaten up by inflation.
Of interest? Of the 209,000 new jobs created last month, 139,000 of them went to employees aged fifty-five years and older while 44,000 of them went to teenagers. The key earning demographic – comprised of employees between the ages of 25 and 54 – actually saw a decline of 142,000 positions.
Worth noting? The comparatively strong job growth seen in 2014 comes as the Federal Reserve bank began winding down its artificial stimulation of the credit market via quantitative easing (a.k.a. money printing).
Clearly that “stimulus” failed to produce the desired result … while its gradual tapering has not resulted in the doom and gloom scenarios many command economists feared.
25 comments
“while its gradual tapering has not resulted in the doom and gloom scenarios many command economists feared.”
What about yesterdays “super stock selloff”?
Make no mistake, a slow down in money printing will cause a recession. The question is, will the recession it causes ultimately be less painful than runaway inflation and/or multiple asset bubbles that eventually pop anyway?
It’s a dilemma that is of the Fed’s own creation when they stopped balancing budgets and used money printing to fill the gap. Eventually the Ponzi scheme ends and someone gets screwed.
Very interesting interview this AM with Dallas Fed Chief Fisher. He said they have plenty of openings in TX, but most of the unemployed do not have the skill set to fill them. He said the biggest problem is education system is not keeping up with the evolving economy and man people do not want to go to school to become a CPA or computer tech. As he said, “The Fed can not fix that with Monetary Policy” Very interesting interview and very damning of our future if true.
Very true. There two problems. One is job skills. In urban areas like Greenville, the ratio of job openings to unemployed is nearly 1:1, while in rural areas it is 1:3. In urban areas the skills aren’t availiable, but in rural areas perhaps both skills and jobs are lacking. At Greenville Tech some Mechatronics students are hired before graduation and paid tuition and salary for time spent in class.
Also explains why Chamber of Commerce is trying to get immigration reform. They hope to import skilled workers, but believe that is tied the overall illegal immigration problem.
The Chamber just believes they can get cheap labor here but what they do not realize is these illegals that become legal will demand min wage and not below min wage.
The Chamber just wants cheaper workers from overseas. The free market can’t be allowed to work in favor of the workers, you see. If American workers are in short supply, raise the salary so the profession attracts more new workers. That’s supply and demand, right? The Chamber would rather import workers from outside the country so they don’t have to deal with a free market in American labor.
I’m not buying this argument.
Did you know there were not enough trained welders in SOuth Carolina to build the new nuclear plant? Did you know there were not enough plumbers in South Carolina to build the new nuclear plant? We are talking about a 12 BILLION dollar project and many of the jobs went to UNION employees from up north bc the skills were not here in South Carolina. If a person went to Greenville Tech for Welding for 2 years for free bc of lottery money (Or close to it) they can come out making $50-60k per year. Same thing with a heating an air guy. Those are skilled workers.
If you can’t find qualified workers, that’s a powerful market signal that your salary on offer is too low. Believe me, if going to welding school will make people $100k per year, there’d be lines out the door at welding schools.
Great comment!(both of you)
Keep in mind though…people are getting government backed loans to get History degrees…and there’s a student debt bubble to the tune of $1 Trillion…..doesn’t that sound a lot like the housing bubble? You know, where most real estate was overvalued…and the market is still trying to find prices today…seems like a lot of similarities to the education industry to me.(and the value of different education fields)
If one was to look at what causes bubbles(money printing) and then apply that knowledge to what causes price distortions(where gov’t created money flows, like student & housing loans)…it seems to fit.
Spot on. That nuclear power plant job probably paid very decently because it had to meet various regulatory standards, but that was a one-time gig. Most day to day jobs for welders and plumbers are not very high paying. Add in the fact that many subcontractors hire undocumented workers and you have your typical American race to the bottom.
Censorship???…Believe me: I totally understand why. Surprised it took you so long…LMAO…
Wait until people finally wake up and realize climate change is every bit as disruptive as scientists have been telling us. I give it about 10 years.
It would be nice to say America is going into that catastrophe in an otherwise strong position, but America is screwed up in a lot of different ways before we factor in a 1 to 2 foot sea level rise by 2050.
I was in Myrtle Beach on business this past weekend and noticed it was the ‘largest’ beach I have ever seen when the tide was out.
Looked like Daytona Beach. You could could have driven 10 tanks, side by side, on the beach.
You are a liar.
You probably believe cigarettes don’t cause cancer too.
10 tanks, side by side, on the beach
Yeah.. but were they on leashes???
“Yeah.. but were they on leashes???”
I think being tanked is allowed on the Grand Strand . . .
“I was in Myrtle Beach on business this past weekend . . .”
The Governess there needing someone to apply her sunscreen, eh?
I hope you snapped some pictures of that ‘largest’ beach to show your grandkids and great-grandkids . . .http://www.scseagrant.org/Content/?cid=408
“finally wake up and realize climate change”
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I woke up August 2 and had to put on a sweatshirt.
“I woke up August 2 and had to put on a sweatshirt.”
Well, that settles it then – climate change is absolutely, 100% a hoax.
(HINT: Maybe you need to turn your AC down . . .)
Hoax? No.
Conspiracy? No.
Hysteria? Definitely.
Actually people aren’t hysterical yet. Most people are still confused. You have people who say they understand and believe the science, yet they’re sinking their life’s savings into a condo on Miami Beach. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
I agree that climate change doesn’t have to be the end of the world. Most of the Charleston peninsula will still be above water even with a 3-foot sea level rise, for instance. My fear is that when people do realize that climate change is real and at work in the present, they will freak out and/or there will be a chain of nasty unforeseen consequences. An example IMO is the housing market bust. On the surface, people just lost money (mostly on paper) after paying too much for real estate. That seems like a simple event. Yet the ripple effect brought the world economy to its knees. Imagine what the ripple effect will be when most of South Florida becomes uninhabitable over the course of a few decades.
Climate Change Hysteria Rankings
1. IPCC – If only we would’ve taken action 15 years ago we wouldn’t eventually all starve or move underground.
2. Left leaning media – The sky is falling
3. Right leaning media – Conspiracy theorists (It’s a plot to bring everything under control of the government – one world government)
4. Most scientists – This whole climate change issue has raise our status. People want an explanation of things we don’t understand. Let’s not disappoint them.
5. Political leaders of the left – I want to be ahead of the trend on this issue and please the left leaning media.
6. Political leaders of the right – See what happened in Australia; People won’t make sacrifices for climate change efforts. The best way to justify this position is denial of climate change.
7. Least hysterical – Some economists – With a combination of market forces, technological advances, and government incentives; prevention, delay and adjustment to climate change will achieve desirable results.
“Jobs ‘Recovery’ Cools”
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Naturally, democrats are to blame.