via Wikimedia Commons
Crawling out of an economic hole of epic proportions will take more time than most seem to realize, but from this month’s jobs report, we’re sure to see plenty of braying from media and politicians about how we’re in some kind of full recovery. While it’s true that the economy added 200,000 jobs this past month and the unemployment rate dropped to 8.5% (when adjusted to leave out discouraged workers and the underemployed *), the bigger picture hardly looks rosy.
Looking at job growth data going back two decades, Matthew Yglesias at Slate points out:
“You’ll see that a 200,000 jobs month, though good, is hardly record-setting. And that was at a time when we weren’t climbing out from a terrible ditch. Just a reminder that when I say things are improving and are likely to continue improving, that doesn’t mean we’re living through the best of times or that these policies we’re being governed by are working out great.”
In addition, Yglesias mentions that the Christmas season normally leads to upticks in hiring in transportation and warehousing, the employment areas which grew the largest in December. Aside from that, retail trade was still the nation’s number three area of job growth. In all, nearly half of those 200,000 jobs gained lie in the service sector, an area not well known for good wages, decent health benefits, or any kind of big benefits to the average worker.
So while the Wall Street Journal headline reads “Unemployment Rate Drop Is for Real,” reading below the byline paints a much grimmer picture:
“The labor force has dropped dramatically over the course of recession and recovery, and concerns have been raised it was due to discouraged workers. If those workers return to the labor force, it could send the unemployment rate higher.”
And:
“The key to the drop in the broader unemployment rate was due to a 371,000 drop in the number of people employed part time but who would prefer full-time work, that comes on top of big drops in that category over the past two months. That number could reflect people having their hours increased or part-time workers moving on to full time work.”
In other words, the key to a supposed economic recovery is a bunch of people who want to work but can’t find a job staying off the unemployment rolls and part time workers finally getting some full time hours.
While we should certainly celebrate 200,000 more people back to work, we also need to remember two things. First, nearly half of America’s top ten employers are retail chains (Walmart, Target, etc). Retail jobs typically don’t pay living wages and many workers still struggle financially. Second, we shouldn’t forget the other 15% of Americans who are still out there who want to work. If we’re going to see a real economic recovery, we need to not only get everyone back to work, but we need to get people working in jobs that provide for sustainable living and benefit the lives of Americans overall.
* The “real” unemployment rate still sits slightly over 15%.
