Gasoline is cheaper these days!

[Oldgator73]

You know you're in the richest nation in the history of the world when in the same paragraph there is "we are not rich folks" and "but I can still find porterhouse steaks.....and shrimp".

And it was Angus beef. Got four of them about a pound and a quarter each. Didn’t get the shrimp since we have shrimp and scallops in the freezer.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Here is a thought regarding unemployment (these numbers are representational only).

You cannot create an economy where one year 10 million people lose their jobs because of 'virus mandates', or whatever, then 2 years later claim job numbers are up and unemployment is down because 7 million of them found a new job and came back to work. All that happened was a double-fistful of beans were removed from the bag, then one fistful was put back in. You're still down a fistful of beans.

Economics doesn't work that way. The numbers are still down, no matter who is counting the beans.

 

[Skookum]

Here is a thought regarding unemployment (these numbers are representational only).

You cannot create an economy where one year 10 million people lose their jobs because of 'virus mandates', or whatever, then 2 years later claim job numbers are up and unemployment is down because 7 million of them found a new job and came back to work. All that happened was a double-fistful of beans were removed from the bag, then one fistful was put back in. You're still down a fistful of beans.

Economics doesn't work that way. The numbers are still down, no matter who is counting the beans.

You are correct that employment data needs to be looked at in comparison to before-pandemic times as both the loss of jobs and recovery are anomalies.

Your other statements would be true *if* the number of jobs today didn't exceed the number of jobs before the pandemic, if unemployment was higher now than before the pandemic, and job growth post-recovery was slower than job growth before the pandemic.

None of those statements are true. With regards to unemployment, total jobs, job growth, and wages, things are better now than they were pre-pandemic.

 

[Onyrlef]

Here is a thought regarding unemployment (these numbers are representational only).

You cannot create an economy where one year 10 million people lose their jobs because of 'virus mandates', or whatever, then 2 years later claim job numbers are up and unemployment is down because 7 million of them found a new job and came back to work. All that happened was a double-fistful of beans were removed from the bag, then one fistful was put back in. You're still down a fistful of beans.

Economics doesn't work that way. The numbers are still down, no matter who is counting the beans.

And employers like Walmart and Target are handing out raises not because there is more work than workers but because they love people and want to help.

 

[IBTripping]

The current unemployment rate is 3.7%. Most economists consider 5% to be full employment. It is definitely lower than before the pandemic.

 

[Tulecreeper]

The current unemployment rate is 3.7%. Most economists consider 5% to be full employment. It is definitely lower than before the pandemic.

Who's counting the beans?

 

[Babe2201]

The current unemployment rate is 3.7%. Most economists consider 5% to be full employment. It is definitely lower than before the pandemic.

The thing I can't understand is that there is still a labor shortage almost everywhere. Is this the percentage still collecting unemployment and other people staying at home are collecting something else? If unemployment is so low then why are most companies still hiring for a lot of open positions?

 

[Onyrlef]

Who's counting the beans?

Actually the beans have been counted by the BLS since 1940.

 

[Skookum]

A labor shortage means most people looking for work are actively employed and are less likely to take just anything for a wage. Low wage jobs might remain open when there's a labor shortage.

While the naysayers turn over ever rock looking for something to disparage the current state of employment and the economy, rest assured, labor participation is back up to where it was before the pandemic, too. It's not like people just fell off the wagon and stopped looking for work.

In any case, grown men shouldn't be receiving their education about employment statistics from an RV forum. We assume you're all capable of doing your own research, but here we are.

 

[Tulecreeper]

Actually the beans have been counted by the BLS since 1940.

True, but those at the BLS work for whoever is currently in charge and numbers get crunched and publicized based on what that person wants the public to see. You can make any point you want using statistics, even diametrically opposed points using the same data.

 

[Onyrlef]

True, but those at the BLS work for whoever is currently in charge and numbers get crunched and publicized based on what that person wants the public to see. You can make any point you want using statistics, even diametrically opposed points using the same data.

What point are you proposing they're trying to make or is that your theory and you really don't know, kinda like the gov't is hiding aliens at Area 52 in Nevada?

 

[Skookum]

If employment numbers are fake now (they're not), then they were also fake under any previous administration (they weren't). That's the problem with filtering everything through a partisan lens first.

 

[Babe2201]

A labor shortage means most people looking for work are actively employed and are less likely to take just anything for a wage. Low wage jobs might remain open when there's a labor shortage.

While the naysayers turn over ever rock looking for something to disparage the current state of employment and the economy, rest assured, labor participation is back up to where it was before the pandemic, too. It's not like people just fell off the wagon and stopped looking for work.

In any case, grown men shouldn't be receiving their education about employment statistics from an RV forum. We assume you're all capable of doing your own research, but here we are.

That must be why pharmacies can't stay open regular hours. That must be a low wage job.

Are you saying that most companies are fully staffed? Maybe they are an I am missing that. I know only talking to regular Joes that own businesses does not mean anything to some people but when I talk to business owners and they need 10 guys and have 7 or need 15 and have 10 or 11 that leads me to believe there is a labor shortage. It has gotten better lately but not good enough to make me wonder why the unemployment is so low.

 

[Skookum]

That must be why pharmacies can't stay open regular hours. That must be a low wage job.

Are you saying that most companies are fully staffed? Maybe they are an I am missing that. I know only talking to regular Joes that own businesses does not mean anything to some people but when I talk to business owners and they need 10 guys and have 7 or need 15 and have 10 or 11 that leads me to believe there is a labor shortage. It has gotten better lately but not good enough to make me wonder why the unemployment is so low.

Being a pharmacy technician is a low-wage job and requires very little training. A pharmacist (Pharm-D) is not a low-wage job, but usually retail pharmacies like Walgreens, Rite Aid, have very few pharmacists on staff at their stores because they're expensive to employ. There may only be 1-2 and compared to other jobs that employ pharmacists, retail doesn't pay great.

However, as you can imagine, being a Pharmacist at a retail pharmacy, "drug store" isn't all that attractive. They are required to work weird hours and shifts for store scheduling (or they may need to rotate between stores). Customers are irate, rude, belligerent and throw fits, threaten, and scream at pharmacists for things they cannot control (Your doctor did not renew your opioid prescription, Medicare Part D doesn't cover that, etc). Or, watch customers lose their cool after waiting 15 minutes for a prescription. Retail pharmacists are totally overworked and treated like crap, for the most part.

I happen to know a few who got their start at retail pharmacies and they lasted ~2 years before they quit and found jobs working pharmacies at medical centers where they don't have to interact with the everyday public or be treated like a retail employee.

 

[Tulecreeper]

What point are you proposing they're trying to make or is that your theory and you really don't know, kinda like the gov't is hiding aliens at Area 52 in Nevada?

It's not a theory. Every administration bends the numbers to make themselves look as good as possible. I know nothing of Area 52 other than what I've rad over the past 50 years. And that they test new military aircraft there out of sight of the general public.

 

[Skookum]

Are you saying that most companies are fully staffed? Maybe they are an I am missing that. I know only talking to regular Joes that own businesses does not mean anything to some people but when I talk to business owners and they need 10 guys and have 7 or need 15 and have 10 or 11 that leads me to believe there is a labor shortage. It has gotten better lately but not good enough to make me wonder why the unemployment is so low.

100% chance that if your supposed "business owners" tripled the wage and offered benefits, people would come running.

 

[Babe2201]

100% chance that if your supposed "business owners" tripled the wage and offered benefits, people would come running.

Did they have to do that 5 years ago?

 

[Babe2201]

Being a pharmacy technician is a low-wage job and requires very little training. A pharmacist (Pharm-D) is not a low-wage job, but usually retail pharmacies like Walgreens, Rite Aid, have very few pharmacists on staff at their stores because they're expensive to employ. There may only be 1-2 and compared to other jobs that employ pharmacists, retail doesn't pay great.

However, as you can imagine, being a Pharmacist at a retail pharmacy, "drug store" isn't all that attractive. They are required to work weird hours and shifts for store scheduling (or they may need to rotate between stores). Customers are irate, rude, belligerent and throw fits, threaten, and scream at pharmacists for things they cannot control (Your doctor did not renew your opioid prescription, Medicare Part D doesn't cover that, etc). Or, watch customers lose their cool after waiting 15 minutes for a prescription. Retail pharmacists are totally overworked and treated like crap, for the most part.

I happen to know a few who got their start at retail pharmacies and they lasted ~2 years before they quit and found jobs working pharmacies at medical centers where they don't have to interact with the everyday public or be treated like a retail employee.

Oh I know working in retail environment involving prescription drugs comes with almost daily threats to your life but that has always been that way and still were able to fill the positions.

 

[Babe2201]

100% chance that if your supposed "business owners" tripled the wage and offered benefits, people would come running.

By saying supposed and quoting business owners sort of implies I am lying and is a real prick move but not surprised.

This statement also ignores that if they do that and attract employees that the businesses that lose them will now need more labor and does not solve the problem. It is either that or you are admitting that it will draw the people out of their homes that are collecting benefits instead of working.

 

[Skookum]

By saying supposed and quoting business owners sort of implies I am lying and is a real prick move but not surprised.

This statement also ignores that if they do that and attract employees that the businesses that lose them will now need more labor and does not solve the problem. It is either that or you are admitting that it will draw the people out of their homes that are collecting benefits instead of working.

I definitely don't think most people are sitting at home collecting supposed "benefits". Some do, but the vast majority of people in this country work and it's a labor statistic that is monitored, it's called employment participation. You might also want to check your "benefits" claims by looking at what benefits are being collected. Believing there is a labor shortage just because sitting at home collecting benefits right now is a really negative, pessimistic, and quite frankly, uninformed point of view.