Washington Post (June 16)
“U.S. employers now have more job openings than ever previously recorded,” but there’s a catch. “The average time required to fill a job opening has also just reached an all-time high: 27.3 days, or almost a month,” and it’s over 2 months (64 days) at the biggest companies. Unfortunately, nobody’s sure of the reason behind this or the implications the lag may have for the employment picture or, indeed, the overall economy.” Knowing why might explain why salaries aren’t going up, when they might or if they will.
USA Today (May 8)
Though it may seem preposterous, a labor shortage will strike the U.S. “America is about to run short of workers for the simple reason that people are retiring.” In the coming decade, the retirement age population is expected to expand by 37.8% while the working age population will only increase by 3.2%. Those set to retire “will leave jobs while continuing to buy things—food, shelter, haircuts, airplane tickets health care and more—which will have to be produced by the remaining workforce.”
The Economist (March 14)
China “is clinging on to low-cost manufacturing, even as it goes upmarket to exploit higher-value activities.” Developing countries shouldn’t expect to “manufacture their way to prosperity” on the back of higher manufacturing costs in China. “Just waiting for higher Chinese wages to push jobs their way is a recipe for failure.”
Tags: China, Developing countries, Higher value, Jobs, Low-cost manufacturing, Prosperity, Upmarket, Wages
Washington Post (March 11)
An “epidemic of stagnant wages” continues in the U.S. despite robust job growth. In February, the “official unemployment fell to its lowest rate since early 2008. Wages, however, increased by an anemic 0.1 percent. Over the previous 12 months, they increased just 2 percent. Factoring in inflation, they’ve barely increased at all.”
Tags: Growth, Inflation, Jobs, Stagnant wages, U.S., Unemployment
Financial Times (February 19)
“The best news on Japan’s economy is coming from the jobs market, where there are signs of labour shortages, and organic pressure for higher wages.” The real test of “whether Abenomics is working” will come from the annual “shunto” labour talks. “If wage growth is not higher than last year it will be a worrying sign.”
New York Times (November 23)
“We don’t need to change course, or kill jobs, or wage war on anybody or anything” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. All we need to do is continue increasing energy efficiency, which has been key to economic progress. “Without energy productivity improvements, America’s energy needs would have tripled since 1970…. Actual growth was only one-fifth of that. Energy efficiency has emerged as the largest and cheapest alternative to burning fossil fuels to generate electricity.”
Tags: Economic progress, Efficiency, Electricity, Emissions, Energy, Fossil fuels, GHG, Growth, Jobs, Productivity, U.S., War
Wall Street Journal (October 29)
Spain may be Europe’s “only real turnaround story in this crisis.” Growth looks poised to hit 1.3% for 2014. “The economy added 151,000 jobs, and unemployment fell 0.8 percentage points.” But Spain remains a qualified success. At 23.7%, the unemployment rate is “still a numbing figure, but well down from last year’s 26%.”
Tags: Crisis, Economy, Europe, Growth, Jobs, Spain, Turnaround, Unemployment
Financial Times (July 24)
“With pressure mounting to act swiftly, commercial interests and jobs at stake and national pride in play, there is a danger that the EU’s effort to respond coherently to Russian actions will get bogged down in acrimony. Avoiding that fate requires a willingness to compromise and some clear thinking.”
Tags: Act, Clear thinking, Commercial interests, Compromise, Danger, EU, Jobs, Pressure, Pride, Russia, Swiftly
Wall Street Journal (July 14)
Upbeat U.S. employment figures belie the fact that full-time jobs actually fell by 523,000 in June. “Way too many adults now depend on the low-wage, part-time jobs that teenagers would normally fill. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen had it right in March when she said: ‘The existence of such a large pool of partly unemployed workers is a sign that labor conditions are worse than indicated by the unemployment rate.’” Stripping the nearly 800,000 new part-time jobs out from the employment figures removes the feel-good factor and reveals “why the June numbers are so distressing.”
Reuters (June 27)
With unemployment hitting a 16-year low, Japan’s surprisingly strong job market may provide the nation with needed momentum. “Analysts expect the economy to contract in the second quarter due to the tax hike…. The contraction could be more severe given the weak spending data, although the strong job market and an expected increase in summer bonus payments will underpin spending.”
Tags: Analysts, Bonus, Contraction, Economy, Japan, Jobs, Momentum, Spending, Tax hike, Unemployment
