Post: #1

Quote: Full-time jobs last month plunged by 523,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. What has increased are part-time jobs. They soared by about 800,000 to more than 28 million. Just think of all those Americans working part time, no doubt glad to have the work but also contending with lower pay, diminished benefits and little job security.

Over 500,000 full-time jobs lost in just one month. Just one month. Amazing.

It's even worse than that because America's population is growing by over 2 million people per year. As our population grows, our full-time labor force is disappearing before our eyes. Quality full-time jobs are being replaced by crappy low wage part time contract work that doesn't pay bills.

To me, it seems like our middle class is now in a state of collapse. What we're now seeing emerge is an economy with a few highly paid professionals and investors at the top, a vast menial working class of people who work in poorly paid and stressful jobs (often part time), and a jobless class that doesn't work at at all.

It's astonishing really.

Post: #2

Socialism, the Democratic party is getting their way. Destroy the middle class so that nearly everyone is dependent upon govt. that is run by big corporations just to survive, and then people keep voting for more big govt. which are run by big corporations.

Not that the Republicans are much better, but as the middle class gets destroyed, the Democrats will win more and more.

Post: #3

All signs point to "yes"...

Those safe jobs with benefits are disappearing forever, replaced by service jobs with no benefits and no career path.

You have to be in the top tier of talent and ambition to get anywhere in 2014. The rising tide that lifted all (baby boomer) boats has gone out.

Post: #4

The middle class has already collapsed...politically as well as financially.

Post: #5

wow. I was going to go out and day game for a bit, but I think now I'll just stay in and work some more. I'd sure hate to lose all of my internet income and have to get a middle class job. Remember guys, MOB. Money should ALWAYS come first.

Post: #6

Post: #7

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is run by racist fascists. Also, George Bush.

Hope and motherfucking change, bitches. Hope and change!

Post: #8

Oh come on. These numbers are extremely noisy and it's one month. Prior to that the economy added full time jobs for 7 straight months, according to the same survey. And prior to that it lost a bunch in October 2013. And so on:



The Household Survey is notoriously noisy. The overall trend seems to be that the economy is adding both full time and part time jobs, albeit at a slow pace. But looking at the numbers for one month is completely meaningless, especially since the previous 7 months all went in the opposite direction.

Post: #9

I would agree with the above poster, and note that the "jobs data" is compiled from a monthly survey of families, not a list of "everyone working". Every year, they update the "survey data" to employer unemployment returns (which include quarterly detail of who works, and how often) to "benchmark" the data. The survey doesn't have the same level of benchmarking on small businesses and independent contractors.

Edited to remove a link to commentary.

Post: #10

There has been very noticeable slow downs in my sector. Also there was a thread on this subforum where you guys talked about some zerohedge warning about a bubble or new recession on the way. Noisy or not that number is a good bit larger than the previous red ones.

Post: #11

Good thing millions of illegals are coming in this year. Quick, raise the minimum wage so more people are forced to work under the table without any protections under the law.

Post: #12

"Good thing millions of illegals are coming in this year. Quick, raise the minimum wage so more people are forced to work under the table without any protections under the law."

Post: #13

Can't something good happen in this world for once?

How about a month where the US adds a million jobs, no planes get shot down, and all iPhones are recalled. That would be swell.

Post: #14

What is sad is our govt. has doubled the national debt in the last 5 and 1/2 years to "resolve" this problem.

We have not even started to feel the pain of all the wasteful spending and disastrous decision making. All those failed green energy companies, all that money given to unions to buy Democratic votes, we put that on a credit card and have not even made the minimum payment yet.

Post: #15

I live in a midwest union city. The way it works here is you're either in the top 1% which are mainly company owners, the top 5% which consists of said company owners and the best paid "professional" careers, C-level positions, VPs, upper management, lawyers, doctors, bankers, etc. or...

...in the lower 95% which divides into apx. 20% non-union private sector full-time/part-time positions (somewhat stable, these companies have stood trial-by-fire so to speak, but you're worked to death if you're good), +/- 5% government related positions, and 70% union labor positions or support positions for union workers that are non-unionized (i.e. office positions that are not part of the "labor" union, so they can get fucked royally because office politics pique in those environments).

You're either in healthcare, auto industry, or commercial construction here, or a support sub-industry of one of those heavily unionized fields, or you're essentially fucked.

It's an IN or OUT scenario here. With HR departments run entirely by either women or minorities, who do you think is getting hired? There are countless complete slouch morons here with well paid jobs, and brilliant people struggling to get a chance at stability living side-by-side. Unless your connections are direct and close to the top at any firm here, it's essentially a craps shoot.

Ironically, the non-union private companies that survived the latent effects of 9/11, the housing collapse, and the banking collapse are all doing phenomenal. Go figure.