Alone among the world’s economic powers, the United States is suffering through a deep jobs slump that can’t be explained by the rest of the economy’s performance.
The gross domestic product here ”” the total value of all goods and services ”” has recovered from the recession better than in Britain, Germany, Japan or Russia. Yet a greatly shrunken group of American workers, working harder and more efficiently, is producing these goods and services.
The unemployment rate is higher in this country than in Britain or Russia and much higher than in Germany or Japan, according to a study of worldwide job markets that Gallup will release on Wednesday. The American jobless rate is also higher than China’s, Gallup found. The European countries with worse unemployment than the United States tend to be those still mired in crisis, like Greece, Ireland and Spain.
Certainly you can have a general economic recovery without new hiring (at least for awhile). What is the incremental cost of filling a new position vs working the current folks harder, or paying overtime? In the US everything the Federal Govt does increases the incremental cost of a new position, thus delaying new hiring for as long as companies can hold out without totally disappointing customers. In fact we will probably see capital investment spending accelerate because you don’t have to pay benefits and SSN to machines (and they don’t demand overtime).
Is that the best thing for the vast human capital in this country? Of course not, but what is best for the vast population of this country is not the prime issue in the Whitehouse, it is the ideology, stupid!!
[blockquote]In fact we will probably see capital investment spending accelerate because you don’t have to pay benefits and SSN to machines (and they don’t demand overtime).[/blockquote]
I have my doubts, I rather think businesses will spend their money on aquiring and consolidating product lines and boosting stock prices through dividends or splits. But, it will be interesting to watch over time.
One blog I read discussed a forecast of “onshoring” (or rather re-onshoring) jobs. The discussion was that it will raise employment, but at decreased wages. As I said, the next few years will be interesting, if not so fun for some of us.