No recession

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The unemployment rate exceeded six percent for the first time in years.

But you don’t have to worry. The government insists that there is no recession.
 
The_Barbarian said:
The unemployment rate exceeded six percent for the first time in years.

But you don’t have to worry. The government insists that there is no recession.
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Please provide the definition of a recession. How many quarters of contraction? How measured?
 
buffalo said:
Please provide the definition of a recession. How many quarters of contraction? How measured?
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Most people are not concerned with the value of the DOW or “economic growth:” however, they are concerned with living standards (absolute AND relative) and their financial security.

There was an economic recovery after the 2001 Recession, but many left-wing think tanks weren’t as optimistic as they called it a “jobless recovery.” Of course, this favors the owners of capital, but it does not benefit anybody else since they do not benefit from the growth because they are unemployed.

So any data on living standards?
 
ribozyme said:
Most people are not concerned with the value of the DOW or “economic growth:” however, they are concerned with living standards (absolute AND relative) and their financial security.

There was an economic recovery after the 2001 Recession, but many left-wing think tanks weren’t as optimistic as they called it a “jobless recovery.” Of course, this favors the owners of capital, but it does not benefit anybody else since they do not benefit from the growth because they are unemployed.

So any data on living standards?
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A factor that needs to be included is productivity which translates to a higher standard of living. Since the industrial revolution productivity has increased annually (around 3%) giving us the highest standard of living. The jobless recovery has to include this as output is rising because of automation.

Manufacturing continues to be a powerhouse, but it is not creating jobs as it was before this latest round of automation.
 
It is the manufactoring jobs that are being outsourced, especially when it comes to textiles.
Most of today’s jobs are in the service industry, those which are often lowest paying. These are the people who clean offices and hotel rooms, who prepare and serve food in restaurants. There is no such thing as a menial job.
As people cut the number of times they eat out or go on vacation, people in these service industries also lose their jobs.
Service industry jobs also include work such as that done by firefighters, police officers, and nurses. These jobs require training specific to the services provided.
 
The Facts About Modern Manufacturing

All too often the perception is that the heyday of U.S. manufacturing is in the past, but nothing could be further from the truth. Standing by itself, U.S. manufacturing would be the eighth largest economy in the world. There are six manufacturing pillars that support today’s U.S. economy, as the data in this book show (especially in Sections 1 and 3). As shown in the facts book, manufacturing:
  • makes the highest contribution to economic growth of any sector;
  • is responsible for more than 70 percent of private sector research and development and the center for a wide range of advanced technologies that cut energy use and lead to a cleaner environment;
  • achieves a high productivity rate year in and year out, increasing by more than 50 percent in the past decade;
  • contributes more than 60 percent of U.S. exports or about $50 billion a month;
  • pays wages and benefits that are about 25 percent higher than in non-manufacturing jobs;
  • multiplies every dollar spent into an additional $1.37 in economic activity, greater than other sectors.
 
Challenges
Even with these strengths, there are many challenges for manufacturers, especially in the area of costs and encouraging young people to pursue a career in manufacturing. Eighty one percent of respondents to the Institute/NAM 2005 Skills Gap survey said they could not find qualified workers to fill open positions. Structural costs such as taxes and health care add 31.7 percent to U.S. manufacturing costs, making it more difficult to produce from a U.S. base. To learn more about these challenges, we recommend that you take a look at Section 2 (Engine of U.S. Innovation) and Section 4 (Domestic Environment).
 
United States Is Not Producing Enough Skilled Workers

**A major reason why the United States is not producing enough skilled workers is because youth are not being provided with up-to-date career guidance and the corresponding
coursework they will need for achieving their desired career outcomes.

Tell your child’s guidance counselor you want them and your child to tour a local modern manufacturer.**
 
buffalo said:
United States Is Not Producing Enough Skilled Workers

**A major reason why the United States is not producing enough skilled workers is because youth are not being provided with up-to-date career guidance and the corresponding
coursework they will need for achieving their desired career outcomes.

Tell your child’s guidance counselor you want them and your child to tour a local modern manufacturer.**
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So many young people nowadays go into major debt to go through college taking courses that are of absolutely no use to them, either vocationally or as a reliable imparter of “cultural literacy”. People love to hate Walmart, but I just picked my wife up at an airport where there was a desk at which a young woman was recruiting for “Walmart University”. I asked her what it was (though I thought I knew anyway) and it’s a technical training school for all sorts of things Walmart wants people for. Computer technology, marketing, communications, design, all sorts of things. You go to work for them and, if you qualify, you’ll be able to go to “Walmart U.” Tyson Foods has the same sort of thing. They just don’t call it “Tyson’s University”. Sometimes I wonder whether our traditional education system has outgrown much of its usefulness.
 
Ridgerunner said:
So many young people nowadays go into major debt to go through college taking courses that are of absolutely no use to them, either vocationally or as a reliable imparter of “cultural literacy”. People love to hate Walmart, but I just picked my wife up at an airport where there was a desk at which a young woman was recruiting for “Walmart University”. I asked her what it was (though I thought I knew anyway) and it’s a technical training school for all sorts of things Walmart wants people for. Computer technology, marketing, communications, design, all sorts of things. You go to work for them and, if you qualify, you’ll be able to go to “Walmart U.” Tyson Foods has the same sort of thing. They just don’t call it “Tyson’s University”. Sometimes I wonder whether our traditional education system has outgrown much of its usefulness.
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This one shows where ninth graders are headed and where the jobs are. The education system missed the bullseye.

The Workforce Gap
 
What do you call it when unemployment has risen from 4.7% to 6.1% in the last 12 months? And those who are lucky enough to find a job find one that doesn’t pay anywhere near what they were getting putting them behind while they are still working hard. It depends on what “facts” you look at.
 
We talk about needing skillled jobs such as computer trained positions but the darn government doesn’t want to fund training for these jobs forcing people to go into debt just to get the education. Let’s start investing in our future. It will get returned to us. Unlike some other things.
 
They just don’t call it “Tyson’s University”. Sometimes I wonder whether our traditional education system has outgrown much of its usefulness.
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the ultimate point of education is to lead one to the truth and not to a career in some global mega corperation.
 
Dee_Dee_King said:
the ultimate point of education is to lead one to the truth and not to a career in some global mega corperation.
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I couldn’t agree more. However, I could not, with a straight face, maintain that today’s higher education environment does that. There is a great deal of difference between “truth-seeking” and aggressive relativism and cynicism.

Since so many courses of study in higher education neither seek truth nor impart job skills, it seems some of the “non-university universities” are the more practical course for many. At least in the Walmart “university” and the Tyson’s “university”, they don’t waste the student’s time with political radicalism or religious agnosticism. Nor do they waste students’ time with, e.g., “womens’ studies”. What they do in that general subject is teach practical principles of non-discrimination in employment relations.
 
BamaRider said:
Well if we have one I’m not gonna participate in it. I’m gonna keep taking motorcycle trips, running, eating out, going to the movies, watching the big screen with HD satellite, and whatever else I might wanna get into.

Football season is here!

Life is good! Get out and have some fun!
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I would imagine that as a retired firefigher, your income won’t go down if there is a recession. So a recession, if there is one, will be irrelevant to you. I am not sure what your point is?

You are one of the fortunate ones, your income is independent of the economy. I have some friends however, who have been hurt in this time of economic turbulence. Even though my lifestyle won’t be affected by a recession, after all, I try to have compassion on those who have been affected.
 
Whether or not some are able to live comfortably or not is not an indication of whether or not we are in a recession. When unemployment is rising(which it is) and the jobs being found pay less than the previous ones forcing even workers to lose their homes and fall behind on bills, we are in a recession. Consider yourself blessed if you don’t have to participate. Many don’t have a choice.
 
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