g5000
Diamond Member
- Nov 26, 2011
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Forget four years ago: We're worse off than in 2011 - The Term Sheet: Fortune's deals blog Term Sheet
In short, we are trending downward.
Obamaloids will do everything possible to deflect from this reality.
Roll out the cancer lady and the race card!
.
Over the past six months, the economy has added an average of 97,000 jobs a month. At this time a year ago, the six-month average was 136,000, meaning the economy was growing 40% faster than it is today.
For the whole year, the economy has added an average of 139,000 jobs a month. That's better, but still worse than a year ago when that figure was 143,000.
Secondly, the wage picture isn't improving either. The industry with the biggest hiring jump in August was restaurants, which are jobs, but not high paying ones. Employment in the manufacturing industry, on the other hand, dropped by 15,000. A year ago, the economy was still adding manufacturing jobs.
As a result, the average hourly wage for all workers fell in August by a penny to $23.52. That was up $0.40 from a year ago. But at just 1.7%, it's not much more than inflation. And it's less than the $0.49 increase we had a year ago.
Then there are temp workers. Most economists believe temporary hires are a good indication of where the job market is headed. It's a way for employers to dip their toe in the water, and many of the jobs lead to permanent positions. A year ago, companies were adding temp workers, nearly 21,000 in August alone. That's not the case any more. Last month, employers cut the number of temp workers they had working for them by nearly 5,000.
But in the same time, the pace of people dropping out of the workforce is up too. That number rose by 2.7 million in the past year, or a half a million more than a year before that. Yes, some of those people voluntarily retired. But a good percentage of those people have just given up. That's probably the best gauge of optimism in the economy that there is. If you don't believe you can land a job, you basically don't believe in the economy. And as long as the number of people who lose faith in the economy is rising, it's hard to make the case that we're better off.
In short, we are trending downward.
Obamaloids will do everything possible to deflect from this reality.
Roll out the cancer lady and the race card!
.
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