URL: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/03/jobs-report-august-2021.html
The Labor Department reports the number of new jobs and unemployment which was recently released on September 3rd. This article touches on the lack of jobs being produced that were categorized as "nonfarm payroll". It was expected to be approximately 720,000 new jobs, however it increased by only 235,000. The estimate of 720,000 new jobs was estimated by Dow Jones. The article goes on to talk about how the unemployment rate dropped from 5.4% to 5.2%, which was within their estimate. However, it is important to consider that the measurement of rate of unemployment is not always "telling the entire story", if you will. This could account for people dropping out of the work force as discouraged workers because they cannot find a job. This would decrease the rate of unemployment.
Further in the article, it breaks down the unemployment rate and jobs for different industries, indicating that leisure and hospitability jobs have stalled in August as the unemployment rate in the industry when to 9.1%. It analyzes and described the assumptions and hypothesizes as to why each labor market had a decrease/increase in jobs and a decrease/increase in unemployment rate. It also touches on some of the measurements regarding changes in wage and discouraged workers.
The article states that this new total of new jobs, or the lack thereof, comes as a concern because it could "cloud policy for the Federal Reserve" which is trying to determine whether to pull back on some of the stimulus it had been adding since early 2020. In my opinion, the Fed should begin to pull those stimulus dollars away. As we mentioned in class, there are many workers who are getting paid more on unemployment and the stimulus checks than they ever were while working in the workforce. This does not encourage people to look for jobs and join the labor force. Without the contributions of workers, GDP can slow down or continue to be low which will not allow for the economy to recover. What is your opinion about the stimulus?
**Please note that I am not trying to make this into a political debate. I am not VERY well versed in all topics that are of concern in politics today. I am sharing my opinion based on what I know and have read and researched**
3 comments:
From my perspective, the Fed should not pull the stimulus checks completely away as there are people who genuinely suffer from financial hardships due to unavoidable factors such as getting sick or being furloughed due to the spreading Delta variant. However, the amount of money should either decrease or the standard of screening should become more strict so that only people in need would get it.
I agree that they should pull back on some of the stimulus, but maybe do it slowly. They should maybe offer smaller and smaller stimulus check amounts until they take it away completely. Especially because some families have been using this stimulus to pay for all of their bills the last year and a half. Taking this money away completely could cause a lot of hardships for these people until they find a stable job. Also due to the rising rates of the delta variant it is going to increasingly harder for people to find jobs.
In my opinion, the federal government should better working conditions for everyday workers before pulling the stimulus checks. I agree that stimulus checks are not a long term solution, but the working class should make a livable wage. This can be reflected in the sentiments of the working class who are able to work the positions available but chose not to until they would make the same as they do with the stimulus.
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