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Defining how far or close economies are from "collapsing" will boil down to subjective semantics, but there is at least one metric by which things still seem to

Defining how far or close economies are from "collapsing" will boil down to subjective semantics, but there is at least one metric by which things still seem to be trending worse in the EU; US unemployment is off record highs and job growth is continuing, albeit slowly, while the eurozone is still continuing to reach record unemployment rates[1] [1]http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/business/global/unemployment-in-euro-zone-reaches-a-record-high-of-12-percent.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/03/business/global/unemployme...

mtrimpe 14y ago
Keep in mind though that since Europe has virtually no hiring-at-will the unemployment rate is actually a lagging indicator.
- podperson 14y ago
  Employment tends to be a lagging indicator even in the US.
olefoo 14y ago
The headline unemployment rate for the US is misleading, if you look at overall work force participation it's going down. [1] And if you used some metric of job insecurity that took into account whether people were on flexible schedules, or if they were employed as "independent" contractors on some piecework scheme. I think you would find that metric rising steadily for the last two decades. 1. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/07/march-labor-force-participation/2057887/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/07/marc...
tsotha 14y ago
US unemployment is off record highs because people who used to draw unemployment have realized disability is a much better option. U3 was always a dicey number, but now it's entered the land of make believe.
- cinquemb 14y ago
  I think U6 is better than U3, but even so you kinda have to take .gov stats with a grain of salt. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
onemorepassword 14y ago
If you see Austrian unemployment at under 5% and Greece at over a quarter of the population, you cannot possibly maintain the illusion that this is one single economy. The euro is the potential time bomb, other than that there is no "eurozone", and certainly no eurozone unemployment rate. And all fallout of amputating the failing economies of Greece e.a. from the euro is strictly theoretically. I'm not saying there isn't a problem, and it is certainly one of the most import factors in holding back recovery, but the apocalyptic view of the current economy in Europe doesn't match the economic and social reality in most European countries.

mtrimpe 14y ago

Keep in mind though that since Europe has virtually no hiring-at-will the unemployment rate is actually a lagging indicator.

podperson 14y ago
Employment tends to be a lagging indicator even in the US.

olefoo 14y ago

The headline unemployment rate for the US is misleading, if you look at overall work force participation it's going down. [1] And if you used some metric of job insecurity that took into account whether people were on flexible schedules, or if they were employed as "independent" contractors on some piecework scheme. I think you would find that metric rising steadily for the last two decades. 1. http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/07/march-labor-force-participation/2057887/ http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/04/07/marc...

tsotha 14y ago

US unemployment is off record highs because people who used to draw unemployment have realized disability is a much better option. U3 was always a dicey number, but now it's entered the land of make believe.

cinquemb 14y ago
I think U6 is better than U3, but even so you kinda have to take .gov stats with a grain of salt. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

onemorepassword 14y ago

If you see Austrian unemployment at under 5% and Greece at over a quarter of the population, you cannot possibly maintain the illusion that this is one single economy. The euro is the potential time bomb, other than that there is no "eurozone", and certainly no eurozone unemployment rate. And all fallout of amputating the failing economies of Greece e.a. from the euro is strictly theoretically. I'm not saying there isn't a problem, and it is certainly one of the most import factors in holding back recovery, but the apocalyptic view of the current economy in Europe doesn't match the economic and social reality in most European countries.