U.S. job growth rebounded in September as the jobless rate fell to 5.9%. These articles seem overall positive, with the economy adding many jobs, the unemployment rate falling, and GDP growth. Other factors discussed in the articles include job participation rate, wage rates, confidence, discouraged Americans, and which industries are contributing to the job growth. I chose this article because this is a topic that most likely all of us are going to be interested in as we start to apply for jobs and look at employment in the future. Does this positive rebound bode well for us? Any other comments on how this topic will continue to impact you/us as we look post-grad?
http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-job-growth-rebounds-in-september-1412339557
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/04/business/economy/monthly-jobs-report-september.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=LedeSum&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
While this decline in unemployment is encouraging, I do not think it is enough. In response to your question Cam, a major concern that I have is that even if we (students) do find jobs right out of college, many of us will likely have entry-level positions, and thus entry-level salaries. While having a bachelor’s degree does increase our likelihood to find jobs and a somewhat higher salary, a lot of the job and production growth seems to be disproportionately concentrated at the top, a place where we will not initially (or probably ever) be.
ReplyDeleteAs the Wall Street journal article pointed out, “This is the second expansion in a row including the recovery after the 2001 recession, where economic growth hasn’t translated into rising incomes for most Americans.” And this inequality is further supported by President Obama’s quote in Times article: “Too much of the growth in income and wealth is going to the very top — not enough of it is being spread to the ordinary worker, and that means that we’ve still got some more work to do to put in place policies that make sure that the economy works not just for the few, but it works for everybody.” In order for me to find comfort in what some are considering an economic upturn, I would also need to see a significant decrease in income inequality.