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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRobert Reich: "Republicans will have a field day with today's jobs report..."
Robert Reich
The Jobs Stall
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American consumers don't have the cash or the willingness to spend more. Not only are they worried about keeping their jobs, but their wages keep dropping. The median wage continues to slide, adjusted for inflation. Average hourly earnings in May were up 2 cents -- an increase of 1.7 percent from this time last year -- but that's less than the rate of inflation. And the value of their home -- their biggest asset by far -- is still declining. The average workweek slipped to 34.4 hours in May.
Corporate profits are healthy largely because companies have found ways to keep payrolls down -- substituting lower-paid contract workers, outsourcing abroad, using computers and new software applications. But that's exactly the problem. In paring their payrolls, they're paring their customers.
And we no longer have any means of making up for the shortfall in consumer demand. Federal stimulus spending is over. In fact, state and local governments continue to lay off large numbers. The government cut 13,000 jobs in May. Instead of a boost, government cuts have become a considerable drag on the rest of the economy.
Republicans will have a field day with today's jobs report, taking it as a sign that Obama's economic policies have failed and we need instead their brand of fiscal austerity combined with more tax cuts for the wealthy.
But that's precisely the reverse of what's needed.
the rest:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/may-jobs-stall_b_1562394.html
Drale
(7,932 posts)the Repukes held the house and have done nothing 0 zilch to create any jobs except in the prostitution field.
1StrongBlackMan
(31,849 posts)All morning. And every 15 minutes they have aired coverage of the "reversing trend", and the "abysmal jobs numbers". And after every story, they interview an analyst to tell us that the jobs numbers are down and unemployment number is up. And how this does not bode well for President Obama's campaign.
But what I have yet to hear is what Reich said ... that corporations are hiring BECAUSE they don't have the demand to support hiring ... And why don't they have the demand to support hiring? Well, because corporations and their gop enablers are doing everything in their power to transfer money from the working class (that actually spends whatever income it gets, i.e., consumer demand) to the wealthy (that saves the vast majority of their income).
I, also, haven't heard that the promised gop debt ceiling hostage-taking event, v2.0, is not doing alot for business or consumer confidence.
I, also, haven't heard that even at these numbers, they are POSITIVE numbers ... and a far cry from where we were 3 short years ago.
spanone
(135,953 posts)the President alone, is personally responsible for every job created....