Quote:
Originally posted by RawAlex@Mar 1 2004, 12:18 AM
Colin, two numbers you have to be careful on in those DOL numbers... first, they don't directly break out the number of people working full time versus part time, and they don't tell you if those jobs are good (higher dollar) or bad (lower dollar burger flipping type) jobs. Also, 5 million jobs sounds good... until you see that the population has gone up 20 million in the same time. (http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/popclock)
Also, does the "adults working" number reflect retired and not working? Or does it slice off under 16 and over 65? The baby boom is crashing into retirement, which is going to make a major adjustment in those numbers. Based on the population increases and the fact that jobs only went up by 25% of the population increase, either we are having a MAJOR baby boom or retirees are being removed from the count.
Any ideas?
Alex
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I didn't say anything got better in the last 4 years, Alex. In fact, I provided the breakdown by percentage and said that the late 1990s were a record for employment in the US. It should be pretty difficult to beat a record. I did also mention that the population increased. Overall, on a percentage basis, the employment rate in the US was only better in the late 1990s than it is today. What we've really had is more of a return to normalcy. Normal growth, normal unemployment. Actually, the US is slightly above average the past 6 months in both these regards.
As long as they are not in a nursing home, 65 and older are counted in the employment ratio figures.
Last edited by Colin at Mar 1 2004, 05:11 AM