According to the Washington Post, the United States has added 261,000 new jobs just in the month of October. As a result, the jobless rate is now down to 4.1, which is the lowest since the year 2000. There are many different things that may occur as a result of these job additions.
There are some positives involved in this growth, many more people are employed now. After the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey, thousands of people were unemployed due to the fact that their home and environment were destroyed. Through the month of October, though, it showed that the economy is slowly rising again. The result of many people finding jobs again could be a big reason as to why the economy is starting to grow again.
Although, with all of this growth also comes some controversy. The wages of workers in the month of October has fallen as a result of many people recovering their jobs. Looking at the numbers, it is only by a very small amount (just about 1 cent). Which is not a big amount and may not have a big impact. But, this amount will accumulate over time and may effect the salaries of workers nonetheless. The biggest industry that seems to be in high demand, especially in Texas, is construction workers. This is no surprise, as the state of Texas was impacted heavily by these two Hurricanes are are still feeling the devastation it left.
Overall, many economists are happy with this data. They are content with workers taking a lower wage to improve the economy as a whole. The biggest question now is can the economy continue to add more jobs at this rate, or will it eventually slow down this next month?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/11/03/after-hurricanes-economists-expect-return-to-steady-job-growth/?utm_term=.29b50c170471
It is impressive that the unemployment rate is the lowest it's been since 2000. However, it makes sense that so many jobs are being added because of the high demand for construction in the areas impacted by the hurricanes. Wages are probably so low because inflation is so low, so prices aren't rising that much. Once inflation starts rising, employers will have to increase wages because of higher prices. I would expect a slow down in the amount of jobs being added because there won't be as high of a demand for construction once the cities are rebuilt.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Drew. Chances are that the jobs report will stagnate in the near future, followed by a decline as more and more projects are completed and the workers who were added on are no longer needed. Over time, if jobs reports continue to increase even as these projects are completed, then that would be another good indicator the economy is continuing to boom.
ReplyDeleteGreat article John. It is awesome to see people accepting lower wages for the better of the whole. Our country has really came together to combat the flooding. As Andrew and Adam stated, the wages will likely begin to decline after a period of stagnation. As we learned in classes, wages are affected in a downward motion, which means they are sticky and do not move much once they reach a certain point (that point can vary). However, I have high hopes for our economy and look forward to more times of growth after our recent recession. Institutions and workers seem to be agreeing for the most part, which is a good sign for our economy.
ReplyDeleteYou all have good points. I also think that eventually, the jobs will start to slow down because the construction industry will not be in the demand that is in currently for a long time. I also think that inflation will start to increase, which will also start to increase wages. I think that since the demand for construction workers will eventually fall, the wages will start to rise as a result.
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