Posted on 08/16/2013 6:27:07 AM PDT by Kaslin
Inquiring minds are digging into average weekly hours of workers looking for Obamacare effects on which to place blame.
Average Weekly Hours Of Production And Nonsupervisory Employees
Since this data series began in 1964, the average weekly workweek has been trending lower.
Note the tendency following each recession. 1990-1998 is the only exception to the general rule that hours never recovered to the previous pre-recession level.
Last Five Observations
Anyone who insists ObamaCare employer penalties aren't having a meaningful impact on work hours simply hasn't looked closely at the evidence.Questions and Answers
In a private economy with 114 million workers clocking 34.4 hours a week on average, it's easy to miss important changes. What feels like a wave to modest-wage workers getting hit may appear to be a mere ripple from an altitude of 40,000 feet.
After all, 1.4 million workers could lose an 8-hour shift and it would shave just six minutes off the average workweek. But if one looks closely, it's not hard to find industry groups with an unprecedented drop in work hours since ObamaCare became law.
Among retail bakeries, home-improvement stores and providers of social assistance to the elderly and disabled, the workweek for nonmanagers has fallen to record-low levels — by far.
At general merchandise stores, department stores and discounters, the rate at which the workweek has fallen since early 2012 is way off the charts relative to prior data going back to 1990.
The White House pointed to hours worked in the restaurant sector to disprove an ObamaCare impact, but the data don't support the claim. Because average hours worked are already below 25 hours, part-timers hired for 28 hours would raise the average.
This shift is also due to the general economic confusion in the market due to Obama's effect on the economy.
I am regularly told that if the economic outlook were good, employers might add on full time people, but Obama's war on free enterprise has everyone rattled and unsure of the future. Hence...part-time and contract work is the way to go.
Why not change the Headline from “Is Obama care responsible” to: Is Obama responsible.
Is that easier to fathom.
Damned right he is.
When the two part-time jobs total 58 hours to replace the lost earning from the job which was only 40 hours, he is making Americans more industrious.
Now, all together:
I think ObamaCare, the economy, and the costs of full time employees in general has hurt the 40 hour work week.
The biggest issue, though, in my mind is the huge over-supply of workers. Nothing against female workers, but that was the first influx of volumes of workers. Then came the illegal immigrants, and the mass of low-skill legal immigrants.
This means that employers can GET AWAY WITH part-time instead of full time help. They might have once upon a time valued a hard working employee and tried to keep him on the job by offering more hours.
Now they have a hundred people in line to take his job.
Low pay, low pension, and low benefits....why not go part time when you’ve got a gazillion people in line for the same job.
Sorry, I can not change the title
Excuse me, but what is Seig? It’s Sieg which means victory
Grammar Nazi!!!
In my day, I was the classic Entrepreneur.. The phrase.. “in the day”, refers to a time in this country’s past that allowed the average guy that had an idea, rented a store front, and posted a sign, you were in business..
Yes, there were permits, and name ID’s, not to mention, enough money to survive, but starting the ball rolling was nothing more than a creative mind and the courage to challenge yourself..
Not all of us survived, of course, but the last thing that disrupted your dream was the government.. I funded my first venture with less than $1000, which included all necessary furniture, fixtures, and equipment, all second hand, and the total fees for registering the venture was less than $100..
No so today.. I know, up front and in reality.. Our society has allowed the city, state, and federal governments to use the small and large business taxes and requirements to fund their destructive agendas..
My last new business, 11 years ago, required $40,000 just to acquire the necessary ground work, licenses, and permits to open a quality restaurant.. My first business lease, was a single page.. Not a dime of that money was used to design, furnish, or hire a single person..
My last lease was 30 pages, with a law firm, and CPA, needed to read it, with 2 months of negotiations between lawyers, realtors, and tax accountants..
I would not, or probably could not start over again, but 2800 employees would have never had a life long income, and upwardly mobile careers.. Pity, really... :(
How reliable is the data, or are they doing tricks like the BLS and Obama are doing with the unemployment numbers.... Ie, making people magically disappear.
Take a lesson on how to properly post an article with graphs.
I second your experience with government oppression of business. I was co-owner of two electronic laboratory businesses. The red tape increased steadily over the years, as did the complexity of tax and accounting requirements. I wouldn’t want to do it again either—or at least I’d have to be even more sure of the venture than otherwise. In other words, it’s chilling.
I had occasion earlier this year to be in China, and I was chatting with someone about what you have to do to start a business there. Suffice it to say it is difficult. She then asked me, “Is it easy to start a business in the US?,” to which I replied, “Yes, but then your troubles start.”
Whatever has this country come to.. I barely recognize it..
I have a small business that is finally off the ground. I’m starting to think about the need for employees. Right now, I will only consider part-time. It’s my biggest business concern, along with tax preparation. The worst thing is the free-floating fear of random acts of government.
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