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We are pretty close to full employment. Rising groceries and fuel costs hurt everyone, but that hurt is more so on the poor who have less overall cash flow.

adolph 5y ago
> We are pretty close to full employment. The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 5.7 million in January. This measure decreased by 1.3 million over the year but is 708,000 higher than in February 2020. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. BLS publication "THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — JANUARY 2022": https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf See also the Labor Force Participation Rate: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART
- vorpalhex 5y ago
  > These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. I mean, I suppose we can forcibly employ everyone? Anyone not employed in two weeks gets contracted out to the IRS or whatever.. but that doesn't seem to be the goal. If you aren't looking for a job, and you can't take a job.. you aren't going to be employed. That isn't some kind of "only the strong survive" thing, that's just a tautology - you must in fact apply for jobs to get a job. Why do you think "people who aren't looking for jobs aren't employed!" is a response here?
  - int_19h 5y ago
    You'd need to investigate why those people aren't actively looking to make meaningful conclusions. E.g. if they don't because they tried and consistently failed and just gave up, I think it's fair to count them as unemployed.
hparadiz 5y ago
I remember gas hitting $4 during the Bush administration on the east coast when I was still in high school. Meanwhile I'm currently paying 4.50 at costco for Premium gas. Given recent inflation I think that we're actually paying less for gas than we did during the Iraq war.
- HarryHirsch 5y ago
  Under Bush II you could actually afford a roof over the head, that's why you didn't notice the energy prices quite as much. Commutes might have been shorter as well then.
  - hparadiz 5y ago
    Under Bush II I was still in high school. Now I own a house. Never had a problem affording rent. I work remote so my commute went down to zero. Energy prices for me are becoming less and less of an issue as I'm getting solar and battery backup put in this year. I don't know where you live but if it's not in LA, SF, or NYC you can probably afford a mortgage no problem with even a modest tech salary.
- alisonkisk 5y ago

adolph 5y ago

> We are pretty close to full employment. The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was little changed at 5.7 million in January. This measure decreased by 1.3 million over the year but is 708,000 higher than in February 2020. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. BLS publication "THE EMPLOYMENT SITUATION — JANUARY 2022": https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf See also the Labor Force Participation Rate: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART

vorpalhex 5y ago
> These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job. I mean, I suppose we can forcibly employ everyone? Anyone not employed in two weeks gets contracted out to the IRS or whatever.. but that doesn't seem to be the goal. If you aren't looking for a job, and you can't take a job.. you aren't going to be employed. That isn't some kind of "only the strong survive" thing, that's just a tautology - you must in fact apply for jobs to get a job. Why do you think "people who aren't looking for jobs aren't employed!" is a response here?
- int_19h 5y ago
  You'd need to investigate why those people aren't actively looking to make meaningful conclusions. E.g. if they don't because they tried and consistently failed and just gave up, I think it's fair to count them as unemployed.

hparadiz 5y ago

I remember gas hitting $4 during the Bush administration on the east coast when I was still in high school. Meanwhile I'm currently paying 4.50 at costco for Premium gas. Given recent inflation I think that we're actually paying less for gas than we did during the Iraq war.

HarryHirsch 5y ago
Under Bush II you could actually afford a roof over the head, that's why you didn't notice the energy prices quite as much. Commutes might have been shorter as well then.
- hparadiz 5y ago
  Under Bush II I was still in high school. Now I own a house. Never had a problem affording rent. I work remote so my commute went down to zero. Energy prices for me are becoming less and less of an issue as I'm getting solar and battery backup put in this year. I don't know where you live but if it's not in LA, SF, or NYC you can probably afford a mortgage no problem with even a modest tech salary.
alisonkisk 5y ago