Prometheus 6   

Statistics vs quality of life, part three

From the Center for American Progress

The Labor Department's new monthly jobs report shows the job crisis is far from over. CNN reports, "U.S. employers remained cautious in November despite the economy's robust growth rate in late summer, adding meager numbers to their payrolls, according to a government report Friday that fell far short of Wall Street expectations." According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the unemployment rate remained "essentially unchanged." All told, "about 8.7 million people were unemployed in November, 2 million of whom have been out of work for 27 weeks or longer." The report follows yesterday's weekly update in which the government announced "jobless claims rose in the United States last week at a higher level than Wall Street forecasts."

WAGES, INCOME STILL A BIG PROBLEM: The U.S. Conference of Mayors yesterday released a [PDF] report showing new jobs created during the 2004-05 period are forecast to pay an average of $35,855, much lower than the $43,629 average pay of those jobs lost between 2001-03. That highlights the major problem American Progress economist Christian Weller says is now afflicting the economy. As Weller says, "wage growth has also been fairly anemic. Compared to previous recoveries, wages in inflation adjusted terms would usually rise by 2.3% over the first 23 months of a recovery. This time, though, wages increased by only 1.1%." He says "tentative employment growth, low employment, slow wage growth, and crawling increases in hours all essentially add up to one thing: low incomes for households."