Employment to population ratio (i.e. percent of the population working) cliff dive....
Multiplied by the number of hours worked per week cliff dive...
Equals the least amount of hours worked (19.3 hours from 19.4 hours in September) per population member since... well ever recorded (since 1964)...
Source: BLS
I just love this graph. To me this is the best indicator of the state of an economy.
ReplyDeleteSaw some comments on another blog that note how the graphs have basically been declining since 1999.
ReplyDeleteImagine that?
I beg to differ on the conclusion that is implied.. If we speak purely about the current contraction that we are experincing in the US then a 5 year data should suffice. In this we period we see the avg weekly hrs down from 34 to 33 hrs. If you see data series from 1965 then a lot of other factors are at play viz. improved technology, changing demographics, structural changes among industrialised countries. So using a longer term for a shorter term conclusion can be misleading.
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see a long-term chart of total inflation-adjusted wages per person per year. This would reveal whether there's been an actual decline in buying power, or just a decrease in the hours required to do the same amount of work.
ReplyDeleteit has been so completely clear for a long time from a socioeconomical perspective the maximum effective (full) employment rate is in the ordre of 30% it is extremely shamefull to see socalled professionals still ponder far from such thoroughly established fact. It also means it is nothing to worry since we are transgressing from full geared slavery (socalled 100% employment) to a realist distribution of the scarce available labour. amazingly it also means we stand more of a chance to rescue some of our ecotope (environment), when we no longer force people into high consumption levels through undue labour.
ReplyDelete