Bleeding Slower
By Mitch Berg
Joe Doakes from Como Park emails:
Fewer people are applying for unemployment. So there must more jobs, right? Yes, the article says: “The job market has also improved over the past six months. Net job gains have averaged of 208,000 a month from November through April. That’s up from only 138,000 a month in the previous six months.” No wonder I keep seeing so many Help Wanted signs.
But then the writer follows up with this: “Still, much of the job growth has come from fewer layoffs—not increased hiring.”
Screeech. Hold on, what’s that? How can Growth come from Layoffs instead of Hiring? You didn’t get laid off, so that’s the same as being hired?
Turns out employers are still laying off people and aren’t hiring full time because of Obamacare and tax increases, but they are hiring part-time workers who don’t get Obamacare. Those McJobs are the heros of this story. People taking McJobs don’t apply for unemployment. That’s your hopeful sign?
And the article doesn’t even mention discouraged workers. Instead it says: “Applications are a proxy for layoffs. Weekly applications have fallen about 9 percent since November and are now at a level consistent with a healthy economy.” Okay, I can buy that applications are a proxy for layoffs. When you get laid off, you go apply for unemployment. Makes sense. And I can believe there aren’t many layoffs coming anymore, most of the fat was wrung out of the system years ago. So yes, very few layoffs after five years of lean is the same rate as very few layoffs when times are booming. All that adds up to “we’re bottoming out” not “prosperity is right around the corner.”
And then, this howler: “Wages rose 3.6 percent in April. That’s comfortably ahead of the 1.5% inflation rate.” My wages sure as Hell didn’t go up, but my grocery bill did and gas is back up to $3.77 today.
I’m actually impressed the Associated Press has managed to stuff so many ridiculous claims into one article and pass it off as good news.
Joe doakes
The U6 number – counting the percentage of unemployed and underemployed – is up, even as the number of unemployed dropped a bit. The average amount of time worked in a week dropped. That means the job creation is all part-time.
This isn’t a recovery. This is blood clotting and an infection forming.
May 15th, 2013 at 6:21 am
So, yea. Thanks to the left wing ministry of propaganda, we aren’t hearing about the layoffs in the medical field, due to Obamacare. A friend of mine is a consultant to the healthcare industry. He informed me just last week that due to the new rules for payments to diabetics for treatments, Eli Lilly broomed out 1100 people from their entity that serves that market down in IN. The same things are looming here for more than one company. If it goes down, I will be waiting for the “outrage” from Gov. Jim Beam, Amy “Photo Op” Klobitcher and Stuart Smalley. Of Stewie may have bigger problems than that, as it appears that he was one of several left wing commie senators behind the IRS targeting Conservative groups scandal.
May 15th, 2013 at 6:54 am
The WSJ has an overview of several economic forecasts:
/”The U.S. still employs more than 2.5 million fewer people than when the recession began. At 180,000 jobs a month, it will take until the middle of 2014 to close that gap. Adjust for population growth, and it will take nine more years to return to the prerecession level of employment at the current rate of growth, according to the Brookings Institution.”/
This suggests that employment will exceed the pre-recession peak around July 2014 (Private employment will reach a new high around March of 2014).
Of course, as the article notes, this doesn’t include adjusting for population growth – but this will still be a major milestone. It looks like employment will reach a new high in mid-2014, about 78 months after the previous high.
(subscription only)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324059704578473383938968700.html
May 15th, 2013 at 7:39 am
I don’t care what anyone says, I think
EmeryDoug provides a valuable service to SITD readers.Where else can you get almost immediate confirmation of the MSM’s leftist bias.
Through
EmeryDoug’s tireless cut and paste jobs and witless regurgitations, the informed, unemployed machinist knows that although the headlines scream MORE JOBS!! it means the 3 month contract, or 30 hr\wk permanent position of his dreams is there for the asking.And of course, WalMart is always hiring.
May 15th, 2013 at 8:17 am
Just in case anyone confused the end of
EmeryDoug’s attributed quote with the beginning of an original thought…“This suggests that employment will exceed the pre-recession peak around July 2014 (Private employment will reach a new high around March of 2014).”
http://www.businessinsider.com/total-non-farm-employment-is-on-pace-to-surpass-its-pre-recession-peak-in-july-2014-2013-5
I think
EmeryDougPenigma may be working with an eye towards this year’s Shootie award for the most Clueless Lefty Twit.May 15th, 2013 at 8:41 am
If twice is a trend, “Emery”/Doug Grows stock response when asked for a citation or attribution is: “Actually I find “I’m not sure” is usually the intelligent opinion. But that makes for boring rhetoric.”
Based on this, I suggest he change his avatar from the title character in the movie “Dr Strangelove” to the character “Not Sure”, from the movie “Idiocracy”.
http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/imagebuzz/web03/2010/2/16/0/how-about-luke-wilson-in-idiocracy-10780-1266297493-11.jpg
May 15th, 2013 at 8:48 am
I went back and checked two more of his contributions…found they were copied and pasted as well. I’m guessing the bulk of what he’s posted was copied from somewhere else.
If you’re incapable of contributing anything original that’s not boring, why bother? Where do these people come from?
May 15th, 2013 at 9:14 am
Here’s something else flying under the radar: in my business we’re seeing a dramatic spike in doctors filing for long-term disability benefits. For an insurer, that’s a big problem as doctors, typically judged to be good risks because they want to get back to their high-paying jobs quicklly, have enjoyed some pretty sweet LTD benefits and premiums. This is not unheard of – you typically see disabiliity claims spike whenever there’s turmoil or uncertainty with an employer. This current experience suggests that physicians are looking for a parachute.
May 15th, 2013 at 11:41 am
Had to smile when I read the bit about employment matching the pre recession peak. Yes, but with about 6% more people, we’re looking pretty dismal, folks. It will take about ten million new jobs just to break even with that peak.
May 15th, 2013 at 9:33 pm
Where did you find $3.77 gas? It’s $4.19 out here in the north metro…