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Seventy-three percent of college graduates who enter the labor market underemployed stay that way for 10 years... almost half of America’s college graduates are working at high-school-level jobs. The study, published Feb. 22, also found that 52 percent of college graduates are underemployed a year after graduation. ... employers are increasingly turning to factors other than college degrees to determine competency. ... 52 percent of college graduates are underemployed a year after graduation. Even 10 years after graduation, 45 percent of college graduates remain underemployed. Graduates who enter the labor market with a college-level job are said to “rarely slide...

The Bureau of Labor statistics just revised the number of jobs recently gained in the US downward by hundreds of thousand of jobs. This is on top of hundreds of thousands of monthly revisions that we've already seen this year. This is yet more proof that the narrative of the "strong labor market" is a lie. They can hide behind rosy headlines and political grand standing, but as always the proof is in the data.

Inequality in employment, education and earnings has cost the U.S. economy nearly $22.9 trillion over the past 30 years, a sum that is likely to increase as minority populations expand, according to a new paper from economists including Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly. “The opportunity to participate in the economy and to succeed based on ability and effort is at the foundation of our nation and our economy,” the authors wrote. “Unfortunately, structural barriers have persistently disrupted this narrative for many Americans, leaving the talents of millions of people underutilized or on the sidelines. The result...

David Parker is the CEO of Covenant Logistics and he was blunt with analysts who follow the company on its earnings call Tuesday.“How do we get enough drivers?” he said in response to a question from Stephens analyst Jack Atkins. “I don’t know.”Parker then gave an overview of the situation facing Covenant, and by extension other companies, in trying to recruit drivers. One problem: With rates so high, companies are encountering the fact that a driver doesn’t need to work a full schedule to pull in a decent salary.“We’re finding out that just to get a driver, let’s say the...

WASHINGTON—The U.S. labor market made a stunning comeback in May, beating expectations by 10 million jobs. As states begin to reopen, business owners are turning more optimistic about the future, signaling that the pandemic-induced recession may be short-lived. The U.S. economy added 2.5 million jobs last month as states started to ease lockdown restrictions. The strong employment numbers shocked economists who had forecast nearly 8 million job losses in May. The jobless rate dropped from 14.7 percent in April to 13.3 percent, well below the consensus estimate of nearly 20 percent. The significant upswing in employment suggests that the U.S....

The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ May Employment Situation report shows that the United States economy added 2.5 million jobs last month, and the unemployment rate fell from 14.7 percent to 13.3 percent.Employment increased significantly in leisure and hospitality (1.2 million), construction (464,000), education and health services (424,000), retail trade (368,000), and manufacturing (225,000). These job gains surprised forecasters, given many States were only beginning to reopen their economies during the reports’ survey reference periods (the week/pay period that includes May 12). The median of all private sector forecasts predicted 7.5 million job losses in May and an unemployment rate of...

After a year of mostly mediocre job-creation numbers, the US economy has regained its 2017 feel over the last four months. Today’s job report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the US added 273,000 jobs in February, the third time in the last four months that job creation has exceeded 250K. The unemployment mark went back to 3.5% as labor-force numbers settled back down after a notable shift last month: Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 273,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 3.5 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today....

If you go by the Labor Department’s statistics, the job market was very hot in November. Then it became cold in December. Average the two out and — in true Goldilocks fashion — the economy (like the porridge) may now be just right. I’ve always told you that the government’s employment stats are flaky. Various adjustments are supposed to take care of things like Christmas hiring and new companies just coming into being. But they don’t. They only confuse things. And only after many months or even years of revisions do we learn what the job market was really like....

Soon after Ilana Benet retired from her job as a labor and delivery nurse, it hit her: She missed the babies. And her employer missed her. Ms. Benet, a registered nurse, had worked at Montefiore Health System in the Bronx for 40 years before retiring two years ago at age 60. As a grandmother of 10, Ms. Benet wanted to spend more time with her family. But she quickly realized — within weeks — that she wasn’t ready for full retirement. Montefiore was ready to welcome her back. The hospital system developed an informal program to rehire some retired nurses...

The unemployment rate is down, and employers are howling for more immigration because they say they can’t get enough workers.Their howling should be music to our ears.I don’t say this out of any animus — my mom and both grandfathers were small businessmen. Heck, I run a small (non-profit) business myself. But a tight labor market means that our fellow citizens who are the least attractive to employers — and on whose support we collectively spend billions — suddenly become a lot more attractive.Advertisement In other words, a tight labor market is the best social policy. America wins when employers...

You have to go all the way back to December 2000 to find the last time the unemployment rate was as low as April's 3.9%. But hold the standing ovation. The labor market isn't as bright, or as tight, as it might seem. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the economy added 164,000 jobs in April, and the unemployment level dropped to 3.9%. It was 4.8% when President Trump took office. Since Trump took office, the economy has added a total of 2.7 million jobs, and since his tax cuts took effect we've seen an average 200,000 new jobs...

Something isn't clicking in the US labor market. On Tuesday, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey — or JOLTS — report showed there were 5.757 million jobs available in the US in March, a near record. Additionally, the number of unemployed persons in the US per job open is down to pre-recession levels at about 1.5 workers per job. In 2010, for example, this number was closer to five unemployed workers per job opening. And while the abundance of jobs is often interpreted as a sign of strength in the labor market, there's a persistent and growing gap...

Thursday's initial jobless claims came in stronger than expected, with 265,000 claims versus expectations of 269,000. But the truly historic part of the report actually came three weeks ago. "Today's release also includes revisions of both initial and continuing claims dating back to 2011," Thomas Simons, senior economist at Jefferies, wrote. "Most of the changes were relatively modest, but the most notable aspect of the revisions is that claims for the week of March 5th (3 weeks ago) were revised down to 253,000 which is, as far as we can tell, the lowest weekly claims figure since November 24, 1973."...

Despite all the confidence-inspiring propaganda from any and every mainstream talking-head, CEOs are cautious about the U.S. economy’s near-term prospects and are trimming business plans for hiring and capital investment over the next six months. According to The Business Roundtable, the CEO Economic Outlook Index tumbled 7.2 pts, from 81.3 in Q2 to 74.1 in Q3... “The downward trend in CEO plans for investment and hiring continues to reflect reasonable caution regarding near-term prospects for modest U.S. growth,” said Randall Stephenson, chairman of Business Roundtable and chairman and CEO of AT&T Inc. Stephenson noted that business plans could be...

Earlier we reported that all the jobs added in April were part-time, or over 400,000, while full-time jobs decreased by over 200,000 pushing them further under the pre-recession peak. Here is another stunning data point: while it has been no secret that ever since the quote-unquote recovery virtually all job gains have gone to older workers, those 55 and over and ever closer to retirement, April merely confirmed this demographically disastrous trend, and of the 255K workers added in the household survey when broken down by age group, more than all, or 266K went to workers aged 55 and older...

Despite last month’s poor jobs report, the U.S. labor market is improving. Job creation is running at the fastest pace since the late 1990s, and there is some evidence that wage growth is finally starting to accelerate, albeit modestly.However, one key component is missing from the labor market recovery: rising labor force participation.In March, labor force participation declined 0.1% to 62.7%, the lowest rate since the late 1970s.Why are so few Americans participating in the labor market even as jobs become more plentiful? I see three main reasons.1. An aging population. While the Great Recession inflicted significant damage on the...

The U.S. is planning to train veterans to become solar panel installers in the next six years, the White House said Thursday. The jobs training program is among a host of initiatives the White House says will cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 300 million tons through 2030, plus save billions of dollars on energy bills for homeowners and businesses. It will launch this fall at one or more military bases and train a total of at least 50,000, including veterans....

President Obama’s proposal to increase the minimum wage and the health insurance employer mandate will combine to destroy job opportunities for young, unskilled workers in cities and towns across the country. The minimum wage, currently set at $7.25 an hour, will jump to $9 an hour and be indexed going forward if the president gets his way. The Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) is already the law of the land and its effects are being felt right now, even though the employer mandate doesn’t go into effect until next January. With respect to the new health law, the Congressional Budget Office...

Some interesting factoids from today’s WSJ story on non-exportable (or non-tradable) jobs and those jobs machines can’t (yet) do such a home-health aide, personal trainer, and something called “nonfarm animal caretaker.” Here is the good news: Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist David Autor notes an increase in personal-service jobs—the ones that can’t be done remotely from overseas and can’t easily be done by machines. … Between 1989 and 2007—just before the recession—they found a 5% increase in routinized production, machine-operator and clerical jobs—but a 36% increase in personal-service jobs and a 40% increase in top-of-the-pyramid jobs, such as managers,...

The release of the June labor market data marks the third anniversary of the official end of the recession that began in June 2009. Thus, this is a good moment to look at the single best indicator of U.S. labor market health. As is so often the case, it is also one of the simplest: the employment-to-population ratio. In essence, this tells us what share of the working-age population (16-years old and above) has a job. When the ratio goes up, things are getting better. When it doesn’t, the labor market is not recovering. To know what kind of job...