Jim Hightower: Chilling Reality--America's Worsening Jobs Crisis

[bhikkhu]

28. The lack of perspective makes this more like a RW hit piece

...and it repeats much of what I hear at my Obama-hating workplace every time a good economic report comes out.

So, for instance, what is a normal number for labor-force participation? And what direction is it expected to go, regardless of president, politics, or ideology? This is a good page on the subject: http://objectivistindividualist.blogspot.com/2012/05/retiring-baby-boomers-and-dropping.html

As far as the epidemic of part-time jobs, the best measure for that is the "hours worked index", which you can look at here: http://marketrealist.com/2013/03/average-hours-worked-per-week-rebounding-to-07-highs-which-is-good-for-lower-jobless-claims/

Other problems are real enough, but anyone who's been around for along time knows that it has always been a problem getting the job you want when you graduate college. Its never been the case that it happens right away, even in a good market. The republican obstruction that's led to the decrease in government jobs might be enough in itself to account for the difference there.

Not that anything is actually rosy, but things have been improving since the stimulus package turned the recession around. One thing that really would make a big difference is an increase in the minimum wage, which the president has been stumping for.