Interesting, but not surprising. Whenever I hear how great the economy is or how low unemployment is, I look around at my friends, neighbors, and look for the job opportunities in my field and I say, really? I know I don’t know the only unemployed people in the state.
Q: Will Trump reinvent the unemployment numbers to reflect the true state of the economy, or will he continue to use the U-3 numbers which falsely tell the press we’re swimming in prosperity? The Obama team has perfected the art of smoke and mirrors.
It strikes me that, with a lot of people not participating in the work force because they don’t want to–like my wife–there needs to be some way of differentiating between genuine unemployment and “don’t need to work”. Perhaps track the percentage of families that receive state aid, or the percentage of households with someone working in them?
Interesting point of reference; people are reporting that jobs paying $15/hour or so are going unfilled in a time when a lot of people complain they can’t find work. I dare suggest that our social net is a bit too generous.
bike, jobs paying $30+ an hour have been going unfilled for years because people do not want to do hard menial work. Every effing studies major is above getting their hands and feet dirty. And it is all about creating snowflakes now, isn’t it? Everybody has to have a higher ed.
A couple of examples….. New York City transit workers (among others) very frequently come down with a case of the disability around age 50. What’s sad is they only have to work to age 56-60 anyway before they can retire honestly with excellent retirement pay and benies.
I’ve talked to a few business owners over the past few years. Those involved in manufacturing and transportation. They have a hard time hiring, and retaining, for jobs that pay very well (and they will train you, or pay for your training) for a few reasons. In the Twin Cities (and maybe elsewhere) its hard to get enough people who pass the random drug tests.
Other thing is shift work. They need you to work 6 PM to 2 AM on a Friday night? Ohhh, sorry, but all my friends are going out tonight. So I’m atta here.
@The Big Stink
It would be… instructive… if he were to release both sets of numbers, properly labeled of course.
Perhaps “Current unemployment numbers calculated per formulas used 2008-2016” and “Current unemployment numbers calculated per formulas used prior to 2008”. Or whatever dates are appropriate to the change in calculation methods
Blade: You want transparency? In politics? Well, it MIGHT happen next week. But it certainly won’t happen THIS week.
My son-in-law owns his own electrical contracting business. He’s always crying how hard it is to find journeymen electricians who are willing to work a full day, no matter what the wages. He thinks it’s a generational thing (damned kids these days) but I think it’s a mind-set thing. He started from nothing and built up a reputation by working 60+ hours per week. They want a job working – at most – 40 hours per week. He has the mindset of an entrepreneur; they have the mindset of an employee. He will never be unemployed. They are only a hiccup away.
They want a job working – at most – 40 hours per week. He has the mindset of an entrepreneur; they have the mindset of an employee. He will never be unemployed. They are only a hiccup away.
This is one of the many reasons I am against unions. They encourage the union members to park themselves at a particular spot in life and NEVER EVER EVER leave (advance).
I have a candidate for an open position that was previously held by somebody with a 4 year Bachelors of Engineering degree. This candidate received a 2 years Associates degree 25 years ago, but never a Bachelors degree. His experience, and the depth of knowledge demonstrated at the interview, leads me to not care what his education credentials are. But HR won’t hear of it. That lack of a 4 year degree means that they refuse to give him the job title that suits the job, and refuse to make him an offer at the same pay level as the previous position holder. All of which means that I probably won’t be able to hire him. Why do they do this? Because the job title has the word “Engineer” in it, and HR says they can’t give him that title, because he doesn’t have the right credential. And they can’t give him the pay of an engineer, because that would violate their pay policies in general, and because they wouldn’t allow paying someone with an Associates degree (with 25 years of experience) more than a peer with an Engineering degree (with 3 years experience).
This is the kind of morass that over-reliance on credentials lands you in. It may take me months to find somebody with the right credentials (the position has been open for 6 months already), and he may not be as good as the guy we’re not going to make a decent offer to.
Interesting, but not surprising. Whenever I hear how great the economy is or how low unemployment is, I look around at my friends, neighbors, and look for the job opportunities in my field and I say, really? I know I don’t know the only unemployed people in the state.
Q: Will Trump reinvent the unemployment numbers to reflect the true state of the economy, or will he continue to use the U-3 numbers which falsely tell the press we’re swimming in prosperity? The Obama team has perfected the art of smoke and mirrors.
It strikes me that, with a lot of people not participating in the work force because they don’t want to–like my wife–there needs to be some way of differentiating between genuine unemployment and “don’t need to work”. Perhaps track the percentage of families that receive state aid, or the percentage of households with someone working in them?
Interesting point of reference; people are reporting that jobs paying $15/hour or so are going unfilled in a time when a lot of people complain they can’t find work. I dare suggest that our social net is a bit too generous.
bike, jobs paying $30+ an hour have been going unfilled for years because people do not want to do hard menial work. Every effing studies major is above getting their hands and feet dirty. And it is all about creating snowflakes now, isn’t it? Everybody has to have a higher ed.
A couple of examples….. New York City transit workers (among others) very frequently come down with a case of the disability around age 50. What’s sad is they only have to work to age 56-60 anyway before they can retire honestly with excellent retirement pay and benies.
I’ve talked to a few business owners over the past few years. Those involved in manufacturing and transportation. They have a hard time hiring, and retaining, for jobs that pay very well (and they will train you, or pay for your training) for a few reasons. In the Twin Cities (and maybe elsewhere) its hard to get enough people who pass the random drug tests.
Other thing is shift work. They need you to work 6 PM to 2 AM on a Friday night? Ohhh, sorry, but all my friends are going out tonight. So I’m atta here.
@The Big Stink
It would be… instructive… if he were to release both sets of numbers, properly labeled of course.
Perhaps “Current unemployment numbers calculated per formulas used 2008-2016” and “Current unemployment numbers calculated per formulas used prior to 2008”. Or whatever dates are appropriate to the change in calculation methods
Blade: You want transparency? In politics? Well, it MIGHT happen next week. But it certainly won’t happen THIS week.
My son-in-law owns his own electrical contracting business. He’s always crying how hard it is to find journeymen electricians who are willing to work a full day, no matter what the wages. He thinks it’s a generational thing (damned kids these days) but I think it’s a mind-set thing. He started from nothing and built up a reputation by working 60+ hours per week. They want a job working – at most – 40 hours per week. He has the mindset of an entrepreneur; they have the mindset of an employee. He will never be unemployed. They are only a hiccup away.
They want a job working – at most – 40 hours per week. He has the mindset of an entrepreneur; they have the mindset of an employee. He will never be unemployed. They are only a hiccup away.
This is one of the many reasons I am against unions. They encourage the union members to park themselves at a particular spot in life and NEVER EVER EVER leave (advance).
I have a candidate for an open position that was previously held by somebody with a 4 year Bachelors of Engineering degree. This candidate received a 2 years Associates degree 25 years ago, but never a Bachelors degree. His experience, and the depth of knowledge demonstrated at the interview, leads me to not care what his education credentials are. But HR won’t hear of it. That lack of a 4 year degree means that they refuse to give him the job title that suits the job, and refuse to make him an offer at the same pay level as the previous position holder. All of which means that I probably won’t be able to hire him. Why do they do this? Because the job title has the word “Engineer” in it, and HR says they can’t give him that title, because he doesn’t have the right credential. And they can’t give him the pay of an engineer, because that would violate their pay policies in general, and because they wouldn’t allow paying someone with an Associates degree (with 25 years of experience) more than a peer with an Engineering degree (with 3 years experience).
This is the kind of morass that over-reliance on credentials lands you in. It may take me months to find somebody with the right credentials (the position has been open for 6 months already), and he may not be as good as the guy we’re not going to make a decent offer to.