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Unemployment has never been lower, with jobs growing every month of the past year. January 2024 saw the most growth followed closely by December 2023. https://w

Unemployment has never been lower, with jobs growing every month of the past year. January 2024 saw the most growth followed closely by December 2023. https://www.axios.com/2024/02/02/us-jobs-report-january-2024 https://www.axios.com/2024/02/02/us-jobs-report-january-2024

yellowapple 3y ago
> Unemployment has never been lower That doesn't measure underemployment, nor does it measure people who've given up on finding work. That's why it needs to be considered alongside things like the labor force participation rate - which has been on a downward trend since 2000 - and alongside wage growth, which has lagged below inflation since the 70's. > January 2024 saw the most growth followed closely by December 2023. Which jobs, specifically? At what pay? Destroying a $50k/year job to create two $25k/year jobs ain't progress.
- MacsHeadroom 3y ago
  Labor force participation rate has been rising since COVID. The long term trend is down but not so bad. A decade ago the rate among adult men was 72% while last month it was 70.2% and continuing to rise. https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-lab... Wage growth beat inflation by almost double most months last year, rising around 5-6% YoY each month vs ~3-4% inflation. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351276/wage-growth-vs-inflation-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351276/wage-growth-vs-i...
  - yellowapple 3y ago
    Well then I guess we'll see if the trend actually reverses or if it corrects back to how it's been since the 70's. Barring some significant systemic reforms I ain't exactly holding my breath.
Draiken 3y ago
Unfortunately unemployment numbers don't mean shit if you still can't even pay your rent with your salary. This focus on unemployment is absurd. It has nothing to do with the wealth gap. More people working, but always with less wealth, while companies keep getting richer. We could as a society literally end unemployment at any time by redistributing some of the wealth. We don't because it's more profitable to have people worrying if they will be able to eat every month.

yellowapple 3y ago

> Unemployment has never been lower That doesn't measure underemployment, nor does it measure people who've given up on finding work. That's why it needs to be considered alongside things like the labor force participation rate - which has been on a downward trend since 2000 - and alongside wage growth, which has lagged below inflation since the 70's. > January 2024 saw the most growth followed closely by December 2023. Which jobs, specifically? At what pay? Destroying a $50k/year job to create two $25k/year jobs ain't progress.

MacsHeadroom 3y ago
Labor force participation rate has been rising since COVID. The long term trend is down but not so bad. A decade ago the rate among adult men was 72% while last month it was 70.2% and continuing to rise. https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-lab... Wage growth beat inflation by almost double most months last year, rising around 5-6% YoY each month vs ~3-4% inflation. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351276/wage-growth-vs-inflation-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/1351276/wage-growth-vs-i...
- yellowapple 3y ago
  Well then I guess we'll see if the trend actually reverses or if it corrects back to how it's been since the 70's. Barring some significant systemic reforms I ain't exactly holding my breath.

Draiken 3y ago

Unfortunately unemployment numbers don't mean shit if you still can't even pay your rent with your salary. This focus on unemployment is absurd. It has nothing to do with the wealth gap. More people working, but always with less wealth, while companies keep getting richer. We could as a society literally end unemployment at any time by redistributing some of the wealth. We don't because it's more profitable to have people worrying if they will be able to eat every month.