OK then, so some jobs are being created but.....

[gimmethesimplelife]

I was reading an article on yahoo.com this afternoon to the effect that there are indeed some jobs being created.....which is a good thing, no? The only problem is that the majority of them don't pay very well and many are P/T. I wonder, is this the future, low paying part time work for many with no benefits??? Doesn't sound so great to me, gives me even more incentive to be self employed!!! Rob

[flowerseverywhere]

I don't believe many of our manufacturing jobs will ever come back. No one wants to buy quality made goods when you can go to a big box chain and get something cheaply made abroad. And of course we are all familiar with call centers outside of the country. If you can get through the phone tree without tearing your hair out you are most likely to speak to someone is Asia.

I think that what is going on in teachers unions across the country is what has been going on in the private sector for years. A local brewery closed down after the 10 year tax break timeframe was up and moved to a southern state with high unemployment, people were happy to have the much lower paying jobs when they came. The company I worked for had several big layoffs and if you were over 50 and making good money you had a much bigger target on your back. One of my siblings was laid off and found jobs, but they were the same pay if he had stayed on unemployment. He did take a job and now has a better one but companies know they can offer way less in times of high unemployment. He is still way below where he was a few years ago. Of course if people have lower wages they can't buy houses or new cars so there is a cascade effect, causing less skilled work out there.

I know we are very poor supporters of the economy, we try not to spend money unless it is truly a need. But since I see parking lots of all the big box stores and restaurants (which by the way are ugly) full of people eating out and buying more crap I guess someone is.

[Bastelmutti]

Here is the article. I read it yesterday, too:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110309/ts_yblog_thelookout/jobs-returning-but-good-ones-not-so-much

Some interesting facts from the article:
* "Lower-wage industries -- things like retail and food preparation -- accounted for 23 percent of the jobs lost during the recession, but 49 percent of the jobs gained over the last year...Higher-wage industries, by contrast, accounted for 40 percent of the jobs lost, but just 14 percent of the jobs gained."
* "...the percentage of those working who have part-time jobs and want full-time ones surged in mid-February to 19.6 percent..."
* "And a recent Wall Street Journal analysis found that even though productivity rose 5.2 percent from mid 2009 to the end of 2010, wages increased by just 0.3 percent. That means only 6 percent of productivity gains were shared with workers. In past recoveries, that figure has averaged 58 percent."

PS Rob, I am self-employed. It's great, but I've been affected by the recession as well. My clients are companies, and when they cut their budgets, the money they spend on my service (translation) goes poof as well. Luckily, enough of them still need me because some things simply must be translated. I'm "retooling" a bit to add another field to my resume to help keep the flow of work steady. If you're going into self-employment, find a niche where people truly *need* your product or service and you can stand out - luxury items tend to go by the wayside first in down times.

[pinkytoe]

Did anyone see the ABC News piece about products made in America? They removed all items from an average family's house that were not made in America which ended up being just about everything. The assignment was to replace everything removed with a product made in the US. The end result was that they were able to find US made replacements but it took a lot of searching. I think the onlty item they could not find was a coffee maker. They said that if only a slightly higher percentage of household items were manufactured by Americans instead of cheap foreign made that it would create quite a few new jobs and boost the economy.

[Life_is_Simple]

Here is the article. I read it yesterday, too:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110309/ts_yblog_thelookout/jobs-returning-but-good-ones-not-so-much

* "And a recent Wall Street Journal analysis found that even though productivity rose 5.2 percent from mid 2009 to the end of 2010, wages increased by just 0.3 percent. That means only 6 percent of productivity gains were shared with workers. In past recoveries, that figure has averaged 58 percent."

Wow! That's startling.:0!

[Bastelmutti]

Yeah, if productivity is up with fewer workers, that doesn't make me too optimistic for the job situation. Would be glad to have the more economically savvy among us tell me I'm wrong!

[Zoe Girl]

Very interesting. I know people keep on encouraging me that things are turning around but being in education means we wait for a long time for the tax base to re-settle. When Tyler is out of high school I will probably have better luck in another state. Colorado ranked 3rd in highest education states (our residents have a higher education level than most states) so my masters here is not as unique as other places with an overall lower education level.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I don't see why anyone believes it will be particularly easy to be self-employed in an economy where at least 25% are unofficially unemployed. Don't you think all those millions are also trying to find a self-employment niche? Or do you somehow think they just sit on the couch or put all their eggs in the employment bucket even though they can't find jobs?! Now,if you have special skills, unique talents, or just a really good business idea (although keep in mind not many are spending - I almost want to say cater your business idea either to the really rich or to the growing ranks of poor - as that's all that's left!), sure you may succeed. But just as there is a lot of competition in the job market, I'd bet there is a lot of competition in the self-employment market too (it almost follows from that, it economics you might call self-employment a "substitute good"). Of course everyone is not doomed to live off welfare forever, people find jobs, people start business! But there is no EASY path.

[Float On]

I don't see why anyone believes it will be particularly easy to be self-employed in an economy where at least 25% are unofficially unemployed.... I'd bet there is a lot of competition in the self-employment market too

I've certainly seen this in the art market. We've gone from competing against 400 artists for 200 spots in a show to competing against 1200 or more artists for that same 200 spots at a juried show.
The recent February wholesale market that show American and Canadian artists to the galleries and gift shops that feature 'American Made' decreased the show size by 1/3 or more (many artists just can't afford to go to market right now) and showed to 1/10 the buyers we had 6 years ago.

We're taking a year to refocus - between the travel expenses, show fees doubling and tripling, and the stress...... for the first time in 12 years my husband went looking for a job, any job. Within a weeks time he had 3 interviews, two were part-time retail with no set schedule (they do this so you can't get a 2nd job),. He ended up accepting the one full-time with regular hours, no benefits, and he might be laid off 2 months next winter. A lot of the jobs around here do that so you don't get enough hours to qualify for benefits. He is kind of happy to just be moving boxes from point A to point B. We'll still work on wholesale orders as they come in but we're kind of thankful he was able to get a job so we can recoop from all the stress of depending on our self-employment.