US jobs created look poor in both quality and quantity [View All]

Job creation figures in the US may have struck many economists as dismal over the past few months. But even as job quantity dominates the political agenda, the quality of the few jobs being created has also caused concern.


Of 290,000 private-sector jobs created since April 2003, most - 215,000 - have been temporary positions, according to last week's employment figures. Private-sector employment would have fallen last month without the creation of 32,000 temporary jobs in the professional and business services sector.

About 4.3m Americans are also forced to accept part-time positions because they have failed to find full-time work - 1m higher than the January 2000 number.

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The prevalence of such stop-gap job hiring casts doubt on President George W. Bush's ability to benefit from an economic feel-good factor ahead of November's presidential election. It also helps explain why wage growth is only just managing to keep pace with inflation, at about 2 per cent.

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Note to mods: The news is a bit older than 12 hrs, however I did not find this reported elswhere.