Job Market Monitor
Michel Cournoyer
UK / The ‘living standards crisis’
Britain faces a ‘living standards crisis’ as it was revealed that millions of families will never regain the losses they sustained during the financial crisis and recession. Average earnings have sunk to the level they were at 10 years ago as workers are squeezed by a toxic combination of pay freezes and hikes in the … Continue reading
Europe recession deepens: very bad news for everybody
The eurozone suffered its third consecutive quarter of decline at the end of 2012 as exports from leading economies Germany and France sank, deepening a regional recession that has driven unemployment to record highs. Gross domestic product in the 17-nation euro area fell by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, leaving the eurozone economy 0.5% smaller … Continue reading
US / It is a Long-Term Unemployment Crisis
The rate of short-term unemployment—six months or less—is almost back to normal. In January it was 4.9 percent of the labor force. That’s only 0.7 percentage point above its 2001-07 average. But the rate of long-term unemployment, 3 percent in January, is precisely triple its 2001-07 average, according to a Bloomberg Businessweek calculation based on Bureau of Labor … Continue reading
Europe’s lost generation / Youth unemployment exceeds 60 percent in Greece, is above 50 percent in Spain and tops 40 percent in Portugal
Children across Europe are being driven into poverty by harsh government austerity and youth unemployment is soaring, threatening to create “lost generations” that could fire up a new continental crisis. Global charity Caritas said on Thursday that around three out of every 10 children in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and Spain are in or have … Continue reading
US / There is no evidence that job losses were larger in states where businesses more worried about government regulation and taxes
What explains the sharp decline in U.S. employment from 2007 to 2009? Why has employment remained stubbornly low? Survey data from the National Federation of Independent Businesses show that the decline in state-level employment is strongly correlated with the increase in the percentage of businesses complaining about lack of demand. While business concerns about government … Continue reading
Fed / Aggressive easing needed says Yellen in an address to AFL-CIO
The Federal Reserve’s aggressive easing of monetary policy is warranted given the still-battered state of the U.S. labor market, Fed Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen said on Monday. In an address to the politically influential AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor group, Yellen, a potential successor to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke next year, bemoaned the unusually weak … Continue reading
New York City Suburb / The Highest Concentration of High-Income Households
The Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn., metropolitan area, near New York City, had the highest percentage of households with high income in the nation at 17.9 percent, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. At the other end of the spectrum are two metro areas named Danville — in Virginia and Illinois — each … Continue reading
US / Means-tested programs and tax credits for low-income households rose more than tenfold in the four decades since 1972
The federal government devotes roughly one-sixth of its spending to 10 major means-tested programs and tax credits, which provide cash payments or assistance in obtaining health care, food, housing, or education to people with relatively low income or few assets. Those programs and credits consist of the following: Medicaid, The low-income subsidy (LIS) for Part … Continue reading
Jobless Americans in their 50s and 60s apply their talent and experience on toughest problems
The plight of jobless Americans in their 50s and 60s is well documented, and it deserves attention. But there’s a different, more optimistic story unfolding. A small army of baby boomers is hitting midlife eager to apply their talent and experience to solving some of our country’s — and the world’s — toughest problems, from … Continue reading
Philippines / A mobile app for vocational education
The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), the Philippines has launched a mobile app to make available information on technical vocational education and training to the public. A TESDA app is a free application available for download through Google’s Play for Android enabled devices. The iOS version of the same is pending for Apple’s approval. “Being … Continue reading
Internships / Give them the opportunity to do meaningful work
Every year several million students, career changers and other job seekers get internships in companies large and small. Some of those employers — small ones in particular — won’t offer internships ever again. “It’s just not worth it,” the owner of one small company in the service industry told me. “I wanted to offer people … Continue reading
Cambodia / Garment Workers / Minimum wage may rise
The Cambodia’s Ministry of Labour has scheduled a meeting on February 26 with representatives of various unions to discuss the new minimum wage for garment workers in the country. However, the Ministry expects the various workers’ unions to agree on what the new wage should be before they attend the meeting. At present, the union … Continue reading
UK / JP Morgan cuts nearly 200 jobs
The company told the BBC its staff will continue to work at its offices in Lydiard Fields for another year before its closure in the town. Swindon South MP Robert Buckland said he would be seeking more detail about the planned job losses. JP Morgan added that it was still working out what relocation packages … Continue reading
The Ageing Population: no historical evidence of impact on productivity or creativity
Complaints about the graying of the population sometimes imply an inevitable loss of economic dynamism. But I know of no historical evidence that either the productivity or the creativity of a society is determined by the age structure of its population. The interaction between demographic and economic change is so much more complex than the … Continue reading
US / The moment of truth for the job market too
There’s a growing meme that the market and the economy are about to have a date with destiny. The thinking is this: Markets have surged all year like there’s not a care in the world. On the other hand, the economy has already been buffeted by one major headwind (the end of the payroll tax … Continue reading
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