Reply #7: I'll tackle employment.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Unemployment is not low. The way that the feds calculate unemployment relies heavily on the statistics of who is currently receiving unemployment benefits. Use up your unemployment insurance, and your are no longer counted among the "unemployed", even though you don't have a job. "Real" unemployment is closer to 9 or 10% than the 5% commonly quoted. In a recent NYT piece, Bob Herbert stated that among inner-city black adult males, unemployment is 50%.

2. Job growth is typically in the "service sector", i.e. "you want fries with that?"-type jobs. Those jobs suck, and they hardly pay a living wage.

3. It's Christmas Holiday time and many retailers are doing their usual staffing for the seasonal rush. Most of these jobs are not permanent and not full-time. And they suck.