Tag: Unemployment

The front-page measure of unemployment declined in January 2011 from 9.4% to 9%, which translates into a decrease of about 600,000 in the number of unemployed Americans, but the official survey of new jobs showed an increase of only about 36,000,

So how did 36,000 jobs reduce unemployment by 600,000?

According to the usual mob of media pundits, it’s a very big mystery!

“It’s all a mystery,” said Robert Brusca, chief economist at F.A.O. Economics.

“Given the confounding nature of this report, we will have to wait at least another month to see if the labor market is rebounding strongly,” said Heidi Shierholz, of the Economic Policy Institute.

And…

“We don’t believe the extent of the drop in the unemployment rate,” said Stuart Hoffman, an economist at PNC. “It’s like funhouse mirror image, although I don’t know if there’s anything funny about it.”

“Who the hell can make sense of this report? It’s distorted. It’s definitely distorted.”

But it’s only as mysterious as corporate-media tools want to make it, and the difference between 600,000 and 36,000 is just another weak signal emitted by dark matter beyond the fringe of our phony economic “recovery.”

Jeannette Wicks-Lim completed her Ph.D. in economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2005, and now specializes in labor economics with an emphasis on the low-wage labor market and has an overlapping interest in the political economy of race, and is now Assistant Research Professor at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI). She is author of a paper produced at PERI entitled Creating Decent Jobs in the United States (.PDF), in which she concludes that “collective bargaining presents a powerful way to turn the tide on the declining workers’ pay and benefits we have seen for decades“, finds that “a union worker has a 20 percent greater chance of having a decent job than a similar non-union worker“, and shows that “that there is no strong evidence that higher unionization rates lead to higher unemployment rates“.

Her dissertation: Mandated wage floors and the wage structure: Analyzing the ripple effects of minimum and prevailing wage laws (.PDF), is a study of the overall impact of mandated wage floors on wages.

In her dissertation Wicks-Lim provides empirical estimates of the extent to which mandated wage floors cause wage changes beyond those required by law, either through wage effects that ripple across the wage distribution or spillover to workers that are not covered by mandated wage floors.

When asked in an interview published at PERI “Though living wage laws may increase pay for some workers, by raising costs for employers might these laws have perverse effects on other workers? From a policy perspective, how do you reconcile the income benefits from living wages with their disemployment effects?“, Wicks-Lim replied with:

I think it is important to first consider whether an employer will actually need to reduce his/her workforce. Whether an employer will actually need to reduce his/her workforce has a lot to do with whether the law increases the costs of doing business significantly or not. The increased costs to employers are typically quite small – on the order of two percent or less of their sales revenues. For employers in the restaurant and hotel industry who are more affected by these laws, increased costs are typically on the order of three to four percent of their sales revenue. So, the fact that most employers face modest cost increases raises the question of whether there are other ways that these costs may be offset-perhaps through increased productivity and lower turnover rates of their now better-paid employees, or perhaps through modest price increases or small reductions in their profit margins. In fact, past research has indicated that minimum wage laws, for example, have not had large disemployment effects, suggesting that employers may react differently to these types of laws from what standard economic theory predicts.

Even for those employers that face more substantial cost increases, it’s important to consider their possible range of responses and then evaluate whether there is still a way to avoid disemployment effects, and if not, see if there is a way to minimize them so that the income benefits more than offset those negative effects.

Here Jeannette talks with Real News Network’s Paul Jay and makes a proposal to combine minimum wage and earned income tax credit policies to guarantee a decent living wage for all.

Many profited off these two long running occupations and still do. Wall Street brokers and the brokerage houses, Bankers! Wall Street investors directly or indirectly, you invest, especially big investors, you invest with those making steady profits and War is a steady profit making endeavor! The lobbyist of modern times especially for the Corporate Lobbyist! The Washington so called think tanks and especially those running them! Sadly many of the Military and Veterans organization charities especially those running them or on the boards of and companies doing business with them! And many more reaped huge wealth, no bid contractors, mercenary armies that grew, the list can go on and on!

These tax cuts were brought on and signed into existence as we started and waged two invasions and occupations and those continue, as does the profits and wealth from!!

Another in the category of Things That I Just Can’t Make Up:

“I guess I’m not going to the mall, after all. Good God.”

Friday, October 22, 2010 – Outgoing Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, today proclaimed a state of emergency in Placer County, due to a major fire causing severe damage to the regional shopping mall in the city of Roseville the day before.  

Text of Proclamation from the Governor’s office:

A PROCLAMATION OF A STATE OF EMERGENCY

WHEREAS on October 21, 2010 a major fire caused severe damage to the regional shopping mall in the City of Roseville in Placer County; and

WHEREAS the fire caused extensive damage to the mall and numerous stores, and it is likely that the mall will be closed for an indefinite period of time; and

WHEREAS the fire and potential criminal activity required the evacuation of hundreds of shoppers and employees; and

WHEREAS the fire required fire agencies and other emergency responders from throughout the region to respond; and

WHEREAS the closure of the mall and the stores will likely cause the immediate loss of many jobs in the area and the need for the unemployed to quickly receive financial assistance; and

WHEREAS the fire created a substantial amount of ash and other debris that will need to be quickly removed in order to reestablish the shopping mall and jobs; and



WHEREAS on October 21, 2010, the City of Roseville declared a local emergency and requested that I declare a state of emergency; and  

WHEREAS the circumstances of this fire and subsequent damage to a regional shopping center, by reason of their magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single county, city and county, or city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat; and

WHEREAS under the provisions of section 8558(b) of the California Government Code, I find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist due to the fire in Placer County.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the state Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular, section 8625 of the California Government Code, HEREBY PROCLAIM A STATE OF EMERGENCY to exist within Placer County.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that all agencies of the state government utilize and employ state personnel, equipment and facilities for the performance of any and all activities consistent with the direction of the California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) and the State Emergency Plan, and that Cal EMA provide local government assistance under the authority of the California Disaster Assistance Act.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED in accordance with the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, including the Emergency Services Act and in particular Government Code sections 8567 and 8571 to immediately mitigate the effects of the emergency:

1. That the provisions of Unemployment Insurance Code section 1253 imposing a one-week waiting period for unemployment insurance applicants are suspended as to all applicants who are unemployed as a direct result of the fire and damage to the regional shopping center in Placer County, and who apply for unemployment insurance benefits during the time period beginning October 21, 2010 and ending on the close of business on April 21, 2011 and who are otherwise eligible for unemployment insurance benefits in California.

1. That the statutes, rules, regulations and requirements are hereby suspended to the extent they apply to the following activities: (a) removal, storage, transportation and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous debris resulting from the disaster; (b) necessary restoration; and (c) related activities. Such statutes, rules, regulations and requirements are suspended only to the extent necessary for expediting the removal and cleanup of debris from the disaster, and for implementing any restoration plan. The Secretary for the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Secretary for the California Resources Agency shall use sound discretion in applying this suspension to ensure that the suspension serves the purpose of accelerating cleanup and recovery, while at the same time protecting public health and the environment. This order shall apply to, but is not necessarily limited to, solid waste facility permits, and waste discharge requirements for storage, disposal, and emergency construction activities, along with waste discharge requirements and/or Water Quality Certification for discharges of fill material or pollutants. To the extent it is within their administrative authority and discretion, the boards, departments and offices within the California Environmental Protection Agency and California Resources Agency shall expedite the granting of other authorizations, waivers or permits necessary for the removal, storage, transportation and disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous debris resulting from the fire, and for other actions necessary for the protection of public health and the environment.

1. State and local agencies shall, as necessary for the protection of public health and the environment and pursuant to requests from local government, enter into contracts and arrange for the procurement of materials, goods, and services necessary to quickly remove dangerous debris, repair damaged resources, and restore and protect the impacted area. Because strict compliance with the provisions of the Government Code and the Public Contract Code applicable to public agency contracts would prevent, hinder, or delay these efforts, applicable provisions of those statutes, including, but not limited to, advertising and competitive bidding requirements, are suspended to the extent necessary to address the effects of the fire.

I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this proclamation.