Who took the big hit?

It does not take a study to prove the overwhelming brunt of the losses from the 2007-2010 "Great Recession" affected the middle class more profoundly than the wealthy or, for that matter the poor. But here is one that does. Simple take aways:

1. Middle class wealth has "collapsed" to a 40 year low.
2. Wealth is more concentrated in this country than income, because many people expend all of their income on living expenses, but those fortunate enough to have "a bit extra" benefit from  government policy favoring investment income over earned income.
3. The major asset for the middle 60% of households  is the family home, which constitutes 2/3rds of the wealth of that group of Americans.
4. For the top 1%, the family home represents less than 10%, and for the next 19%, about 30% of their wealth.
5. Debt, a lot of debt exacerbated the problem.

Public sector jobs decline

Well, more job truthifying - Paul Krugman, informs Sen. Rand Paul that public sector jobs have declined since Obama took office.  In disbelief Sen. Paul retorts "the growth of government is enormous under President Obama." No, really, government employment is smaller now than before President Obama took office. That a United States senator is surprised at this important fact is discomforting. Krugman provides a dramatic chart here.

Middling jobs growth

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported net job growth in August was shy of 100,000. Private sector jobs expanded by 103,000 and public sector jobs declined by 7,000. The unemployment rate dropped slightly to 8.1%.

Ruh Roh

The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) notes a net job creation of only 69,000, and that the unemployment rate has risen to 8.2%. Also of note the jobs numbers for March and April were revised downward.

Job growth slows

Job growth slowed in April with only 115,000 new jobs created. unemployment dips to 8.1%.

Labors' Rx for the economy

Does labor have it right on these issues?

Remember Andy Stern?

Former President of the SEIU and bad boy poster child (and pinata) of the anti union crowd, now works for Big Pharma. He's profiled in this piece at BeyondChron, which portrays him as a big fan of China's explosive state driven growth there, a blamer who notes the time of free markets is over, and by implication a tacit supporter of repressive working conditions. Go figure.

Unemployment drops to 8.6%

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unemployment report released today indicates 120,000 jobs were added last month. The unemployment rate dropped also to 8.6%. BLS also revised upward the job growth in October by 72,000 jobs. This is the 4th month in a row the report as revised job growth upward over the initial estimate.

Now its more than anecdotal

Pew has a report out about the effect of the Great Recession on the birth rate. While Alaska and North Dakota buck the trend, every other state (map) shows a decline in birth rate since 2007. Mississippi ranks third highest decline (behind Nevada and Idaho). Clicking through to the Pew site brings you to a graph showing just how close the decline in birth rate mirrors the decline in per capita income

From the jobs speech

"I reject the idea we have to strip away collective bargaining rights to compete in a global economy."

                                                                                          President Obama  9/8/11


Red meat for organized labor, but a little short on specifics.

Economy up - unemployment, Dow down

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the July jobs report today. Private sector employment increased by 154,000 jobs, but that gain was partially offset by continuing loss of public sector jobs. Unemployment declined marginally to 9.1%. Dow drops 500, worst day since 2008 financial crisis.

McJobs

McDonald's has announced it plans to hire an additional 50,000 employees. It also said it intended to gentrify the pejorative term "McJobs" making it mean something better than low wage no benefit work.

Unemployment drops in March

Unemployment in March fell to 8.8%, a two year low. The full Bureau of Labor Statistics report is here.

Better?

According to a report released by Automatic Data Processing (ADP), a private payroll servicing firm, December private sector jobs creation topped a whopping 300,000. There are skeptics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) official report will issue Friday.

Net job loss caused by public sector decline

Government sector employment declined by 159,000 last month while private sector jobs increased by 64,000 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate remained at 9.6%.

Geography of unemployment

The unemployment map has been updated through July 2010. Our original post on the earlier map is here.

Sloooooowwwing

Economy grew in Q2 at slowest rate in a year. But, of course, we could feel that already. Today the Commerce Department revised GDP figures for 2009, noting the economy shrank 2.6% worse than the original 2.4% estimate. Thats the worst year since 1946.

Decade hole

The Center for Economic Policy and Research released a depressing study on job loss which suggests the jobs deficit wont be erased until 2021.

Economy grows

The nations GDP grew at a slower than forecast 3.2% in the first quarter. Its the third straight quarter of growth.

Jobs and more jobs

Although the unemployment rate remained at 9.7%, the economy gained 162,000 jobs.