Take a moment...
...to pause and marvel at the US economy, says the Wall Street Journal. Why, you ask? Friday's bullish Labor Department report. The findings may help to dispel the widespread perceptions and perils of outsourcing even as vehement expressions of this concern (read Lou Dobbs and the jobless recovery) now look a trifle off base.
The report states that more than 200,000 new jobs were created in July, and two million were created over the past year. More statistics ensue to provide a context for the report. For example, more Americans have jobs today than at any other time in history. Further, over the past two decades, the U.S. has created more than 40 million jobs -- twice as many as Europe and Japan combined. And finally, the U.S. has one of the lowest jobless rates of all developed nations. The WSJ reminds us that the "5% jobless rate today is almost a percentage point below what it was during the same stage of the business cycle during the vaunted Clinton expansion." The jobs recession began with the bursting of the technology bubble and stock market collapse of 2000-01 and hit bottom in mid-2003. The recovery began when the Bush marginal-rate tax cuts were enacted into law (no causal nexus there!).
The report is also testimony to a resilient, adaptable economy with a tremendous capacity for absorption. As the article concludes, "a unique feature of the U.S. economy is that Americans move in and out of jobs -- usually to rise up the income elevator -- at a rapid and persistent pace. This is the key to the Great American Jobs Machine, and it explains why Europe and Japan should be more like us, and not the other way around."
The report states that more than 200,000 new jobs were created in July, and two million were created over the past year. More statistics ensue to provide a context for the report. For example, more Americans have jobs today than at any other time in history. Further, over the past two decades, the U.S. has created more than 40 million jobs -- twice as many as Europe and Japan combined. And finally, the U.S. has one of the lowest jobless rates of all developed nations. The WSJ reminds us that the "5% jobless rate today is almost a percentage point below what it was during the same stage of the business cycle during the vaunted Clinton expansion." The jobs recession began with the bursting of the technology bubble and stock market collapse of 2000-01 and hit bottom in mid-2003. The recovery began when the Bush marginal-rate tax cuts were enacted into law (no causal nexus there!).
The report is also testimony to a resilient, adaptable economy with a tremendous capacity for absorption. As the article concludes, "a unique feature of the U.S. economy is that Americans move in and out of jobs -- usually to rise up the income elevator -- at a rapid and persistent pace. This is the key to the Great American Jobs Machine, and it explains why Europe and Japan should be more like us, and not the other way around."
posted by Deepa at
6:35 PM
