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Does the US really have a problem with unemployment? Nationally it is at its lowest since like 2000 - around 5% now. Yes averages are not good to use, there a
by matt_s 10y ago
Does the US really have a problem with unemployment? Nationally it is at its lowest since like 2000 - around 5% now. Yes averages are not good to use, there are areas where it might be 0.5% and some where it is 10%.
Bringing back things we used to do is looking in the rear view mirror. There should be investments in technology, education geared towards that and visionary things for us to accomplish for the future.
- fixxer 10y agoNo, we have a problem with wage growth. That isn't to say that the types of jobs have a huge impact. If McD paid $25/hr with full benefits, nobody would give a shit. Kind of hard to make that sustainable without clawing back real jobs from the 3rd world. Germany seems to do a fine job with their auto industry, robots and all. I think this article is very flawed as that $8 task is but one of many and also one of the few perfect for a robot. "Spot welding isn't coming back to human manufacturing" is more accurate.
- cmdrfred 10y agoWorkforce participation numbers are also rather low. http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/labor-force-participation-improves-americans-not-labor-force http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/labor-force-...
- moyta 10y agoAnd a problem with workers rights, our citizens are not fighting for a better working environment.
- fixxer 10y agoExamples?
- antisthenes 10y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_United_Sta... Here's a good start.
- fixxer 10y agoNope, that isn't a good start. I'm looking for examples that show the US has a bad working environment. You providing a wiki link to "unions in the USA" does not address the question. What is bad about our labor environment and why? And compared to whom?
- the8472 10y agoThose gains are not equally spread over all demographics. The decline in some groups can be masked by gains in others.
- nommm-nommm 10y agoI don't know the answer to your specific question but I want to mention unemployment may be a misleading number. Unemployment only counts people who are actively looking for employment. It doesn't include those who have given up and dropped out of the labor market or those who are underemployed. It's only one metric of the health of the workforce and shouldn't be looked at alone.
- matt_s 10y agoGood points. Getting metrics that cover underemployed and apathy would be difficult. Where I was going was that it appears looking backwards to want to bring jobs back that were outsourced for mostly cheaper labor. If US companies could do those things here profitably, they would.
- humanrebar 10y agoYes. Look at how the labor force participation rate has changed over the last ten or twenty years.
- nommm-nommm 10y agoInterestingly I can see a case where a drop in labor force participation is a positive thing, it depends on who is dropping out. I can see more senors retiring and more voluntary stay at home parents being an indication of more general financial security among the population. More people who can afford not to work. However if the drop is in people who want to or need to work that's obviously bad.