Employment Archives - Page 3 of 3 - the patient investor

December 4, 2011

Would all those who are unemployed please raise their hand

US unemployment fell to 8.6 percent in November, the lowest level in more than 2 years. But let’s take a look at the real figures — without the spin. The unemployment rate only includes those who have actively looked for work in the prior 4 weeks. That excludes anyone who has abandoned hope of finding a job and is no longer seeking work. The Jobless Rate below paints a far bleaker picture, reflecting all unemployed, either full-time or part-time, whether or not they are seeking work. The chart is restricted to males aged 25 to 54 in order to minimize demographic factors that could cause wider variations among females, youth under the age of 25, or 55 or older.

US Males 25 To 54 Jobless Rate

There is a visible improvement, with a fall below 18 percent, but we are a long way from the lows of 12 percent recorded in the last boom. Apart from the massive spike in 2008, what is also evident is the long-term up-trend: the jobless rate has increased steadily over the last 60 years — from a low of just 3.6 percent in 1953. We are a long way from being able to congratulate ourselves on the recovery.

September 28, 2011

It’s Man vs. Machine and Man Is Losing – WSJ

Since the recession ended, businesses had increased their real spending on equipment and software by a strong 26%, while they have added almost nothing to their payrolls.

via It’s Man vs. Machine and Man Is Losing – Real Time Economics – WSJ.

September 9, 2011

A New New Deal – Truthdig

Decades of experience, in nations across the globe, provide ample evidence that while the private sector plays an important role, it cannot by itself provide employment for all who want to work.

There is a way to do that: The government could serve as the “employer of last resort” under a job guarantee program modeled on the WPA (the Works Progress Administration, in existence from 1935 to 1943 after being renamed the Work Projects Administration in 1939) and the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942). The program would offer a job to any American who was ready and willing to work at the federal minimum wage, plus legislated benefits. No time limits. No means testing. No minimum education or skill requirements.

……To avoid simple “make-work” employment, project proposals could be evaluated on the following criteria: (a) value to the community; (b) value to the participants; (c) likelihood of successful implementation of project; (d) contribution to preparing workers for employment outside the program.

via What the Country Needs Is a New New Deal – Truthdig.

Comment:

Infrastructure projects are one way to get the unemployed back to work and are to some extent offset by savings in unemployment benefits. I would add one qualifier to the selection of infrastructure projects: they must be selected in terms of return on investment (ROI) and not on the number of jobs created. Projects that earn a market-related return on investment—whether toll roads, high-speed rail, new port facilities or national broadband networks—will generate revenues that can be used to repay the debt incurred. At the right time, they can also be sold off to private investors in order to generate funds for further projects. Money invested in schools, libraries, universities and research should be funded out of revenue, and not from increased government borrowing, simply because they do not generate new revenues. Instead they require ongoing expenditure to staff, operate and maintain the new facilities. Read more in my discussion of Austerity and Infrastructure Spending.

September 9, 2011

What the Country Needs Is a New New Deal – Truthdig

The problem is that the president believes we can cure our jobless problem by providing the proper incentives to the business community. And here he is committing one of the few big policy blunders from Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. Like Johnson, who focused on retraining the unemployed for jobs that did not exist, Obama has focused on incentivizing the businesses community to hire workers to produce for customers that do not exist.

……The truth is simple and contrary to these views. Business will not hire more workers until it has more sales. Consumers will not spend more until they’ve got more jobs.

via What the Country Needs Is a New New Deal – Truthdig.

August 31, 2011

Vital Signs: Private Hiring Slows – Real Time Economics – WSJ

Hiring slowed last month. According to Automatic Data Processing, the private sector added 91,000 jobs in August, fewer than the 109,000 added in July. The payroll firm’s figures don’t reflect the effects of the Verizon strike, which Friday’s employment report from the Labor Department likely will.

via Vital Signs: Private Hiring Slows – Real Time Economics – WSJ.