3.9 Percent

The unemployment rate in April fell to 3.9 percent. Bill Clinton was president the last time the rate was so low.

On the other hand, the economy added a modest 164,000 jobs last month. That’s better than March’s 103,000, but well below the monthly average of the last year (195,000). African-American unemployment declined from its record low last month, going from 6.9 percent to 6.6 (seasonally adjusted). Manufacturing jobs continued to increase, especially in durable goods. That is probably due to the new tax law that allows immediate expensing of corporate purchases of durable goods (i.e. goods that last more than three years).

The labor participation rate edged down from 62.9 percent to 62.8. That meant that there were 236,000 fewer people in the civilian labor force last month.

The puzzle is wages, which have remained sluggish despite the falling unemployment rate and the shrinking civilian labor force. As the pool of available workers shrinks, while the number of jobs increases, competition for the available workers should push wages up. But they have only risen 2.6 percent in the last year, not a great deal above the inflation rate.

If present trends continue, that is bound to change. And most economists think the Fed will be a bit more aggressive in raising interest rates in order to keep inflation in check.

All in all, a good report, but, except for the 3.9 percent unemployment rate, not one to make people go, “wow!”

https://www.commentarymagazine.com/american-society/economy/3-9-percent-jobs-economy/

       Relatively "low" unemployment rates in the USA, Britain, Oz and NZ, Canada, and Western Europe in general,  are quite deceptive...

*  They don't differentiate between full-time permanent jobs and new part-time, casual and transient/short-term contract jobs --  at the same time that all the major and middle western economies are creating new part-time and casual jobs, the number of full-time and permanent positions keeps on shrinking;

*  The goal posts have shifted :  once upon a time, somebody would have had to work at least 25 hours a week to be considered as full-time, and at least 3 paid hours in any week to be considered a part-timer  --  these days, those usurious bastards list every "zero hours contract" as a new job  !!!

*  They ignore the 'underemployed', marginalised, people trapped in economic poverty, and the "working poor" :  part-time workers who want fulltime work, casualised workers looking for permanent positions, spouses looking for outside work, self-employed trades' and farmers living on part-time wages  --  all of these people are not included in those statistics..

Allowing for the increasing "casualisation" of the workforce, you should double the official rates to find the genuine real world figures.   Adding the "under-employed" and "hidden unemployed" will easily double that number again  --  which in turn also helps to explain why the "participation rate"
continues to go backwards while "official" unemployment figures keep on improving...

As for wages staying flat --  since the late 1990s, various business groups working hand-in-hand with free market/"trickle down"/supply-side governments have been placing downward pressures on wages, running scare campaigns (e.g. "your job is vulnerable", "there are plenty of others out there looking for work"..), fucking over workers rights and their unions, weakening workplace, community and environmental protections, allowing jobs to be exported to low-wage countries..  --  while at the same time, executive pay packets have seen record highs over the past two decades, while corporate tax rate %'s are at record lows.        

"Lies, damn lies, and statistics.."

The unemployment has been down since 2010, due largely to the Obama efforts at recovery of the almost Great Depression in October, 2008.  When unemployment is low, the real threat is inflation.

The Republicans promised that the recent (2017) tax cuts for the rich would increase wages...y'all will remember when Maddog and I had that argument, whereby he was saying that one-time bonuses were a signal that wages would increase.

It didn't happen. But the huge increase in wealth to the rich resulted, not in wage increases, but in corporate buy-backs, as predicted.  A corporate buy-back is when the corporation itself buys its own stock back, enriching the people who already own the corporation because their shares get fatter.

So, the Republican tax cut of 2017 has resulted in the wealthy lining their own pockets, while the money inflates…or, that is to say, its value goes down.  This, while the cost of the military (among other things) goes up, causing the poor and middle class to bear the burden of protecting the said wealthy benefactors.

What did you expect when you elected a billionaire to office?  Gives new meaning to, My country tis of thee...  The only achievement of the Trump administration, has been to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer.

Original Quill wrote:The unemployment has been down since 2010, due largely to the Obama efforts at recovery of the almost Great Depression in October, 2008.  When unemployment is low, the real threat is inflation.

The Republicans promised that the recent (2017) tax cuts for the rich would increase wages...y'all will remember when Maddog and I had that argument, whereby he was saying that one-time bonuses were a signal that wages would increase.

It didn't happen.  But the huge increase in wealth to the rich resulted, not in wage increases, but in corporate buy-backs, as predicted.  A corporate buy-back is when the corporation itself buys its own stock back, enriching the people who already own the corporation because their shares get fatter.

So, the Republican tax cut of 2017 has resulted in the wealthy lining their own pockets, while the money inflates…or, that is to say, its value goes down.  This, while the cost of the military (among other things) goes up, causing the poor and middle class to bear the burden of protecting the said wealthy benefactors.

What did you expect when you elected a billionaire to office?  Gives new meaning to, My country tis of thee...  The only achievement of the Trump administration, has been to make the rich richer, and the poor poorer.

What did I expect?

The politically motivated answer above

It took wolf, to actually speak sense here

You act as if that is surprising.  I have always said that Wolf is the smartest, best reasoned poster on this website.

Original Quill wrote:You act as if that is surprising.  I have always said that Wolf is the smartest, best reasoned poster on this website.

So youi think singular on intelligence

I think many posters have intelligence and knowledge on many subjects

You though single out one person, to fit your racist agenda

Frankly, I think you are an idiot and in no way have you ever been a lawyer or Judge, based on your warped and hateful views

You see Quill, I have zero respect for idiots who quantify people classed as black. Shot by the Police, as comparable to the holocaust.

It seriously take the most idiotic and hateful view of someone, who has no clue or understanding of the Holocaust to make such a dumb and stupid view and yet you did

Seriously people like you are scum, how you belittle the holocaust

There is zero comparrison and only those on the extreme left make such a stupid claim. For one simple reason, to allow people to hate

Frankly, you are no better than the KKK, white supremacists and other extreme groups. You are low life hateful scum.

Didge wrote:

Original Quill wrote:You act as if that is surprising.  I have always said that Wolf is the smartest, best reasoned poster on this website.

So youi think singular on intelligence

I think many posters have intelligence and knowledge on many subjects

Many posters herein are brilliant, and they all have high intelligence.  I merely suggested that Wolf is probably the most intelligent among them.

Didge wrote:You though single out one person, to fit your racist agenda

A-hah, so now it's racist to speak up for Australians??  You Brits have such strange notions.

Didge wrote:Frankly, I think you are an idiot and in no way have you ever been a lawyer or Judge, based on your warped and hateful views

But...obviously, you are jealous...and hence, biased.    

Spoiler:

How can I be jealous, when I admire someone, even when he is a dick?

Did you not calculate that Quill?

The problem with you Quill, is you only recognise people you like

I think Wolf is appalling at times, but here is the butt, he is very intelligent and I am not afraid to say so.

You though, are comparable to Tommy, very racist and hateful. Not someone I would wish on anyone to meet.

I will be back later, maybe whilst I am gone, someone can educate this self loathing left wing sadomatic hater. Who claims, that a police shooting, only when the victim is black, is genocide. Is an idiot.

This is why nobody Quill takes you seriously when you come out with such bollocks and insult people who were the victims of genocide

To me, you are pure scum and far more racist than Trump is.

Laters

Didge wrote:How can I be jealous, when I admire someone, even when he is a dick?

Did you not calculate that Quill?

The problem with you Quill, is you only recognise people you like

I think Wolf is appalling at times, but here is the butt, he is very intelligent and I am not afraid to say so.

You though, are comparable to Tommy, very racist and hateful. Not someone I would wish on anyone to meet.

Didge, you've already proved you are a racist.

Now you are just proving you are a scatterbrained idiot.  How many others do you want to insult?  Why don't you include the dozen or so you insulted yesterday?

You've also proved you can't process thoughts.  Why not change the subject to...oh say, flower gardens?  They must be relevant to something.

Original Quill wrote:

Didge wrote:How can I be jealous, when I admire someone, even when he is a dick?

Did you not calculate that Quill?

The problem with you Quill, is you only recognise people you like

I think Wolf is appalling at times, but here is the butt, he is very intelligent and I am not afraid to say so.

You though, are comparable to Tommy, very racist and hateful. Not someone I would wish on anyone to meet.

Didge, you've already proved you are a racist.

Now you are just proving you are a scatterbrained idiot.  How many others do you want to insult?  Why don't you include the dozen or so you insulted yesterday?

You've also proved you can't process thoughts.  Why not change the subject to...oh say, flower gardens?  They must be relevant to something.  

Really, because some fake wannabe judge, thinks so?

How about you stop jerking off thinking one day you could be a lawyer?

Its never going to happen for two reasons.

One you are an imbicille

Second, you are an extremist

Didge wrote:Really, because some fake wannabe judge, thinks so?

How about you stop jerking off thinking one day you could be a lawyer?

Its never going to happen for two reasons.

One you are an imbicille

Second, you are an extremist

A whole post and not a cogent thought. Now that you can't C&P, but have to write your own thoughts down, you're going to be at a loss, mate.