corrente

Paul Harrington and Andrew Sum of the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University give some analytical perspective:

According to one of the two leading sources for such data -- the current employment statistics, also known as the payroll survey -- the number of wage and salary workers on employer payrolls fell by more than 620,000. But according to the other leading source -- the current population survey of households -- employment in the nation increased by nearly 2.3 million over the same period. Not only do these numbers -- both of which are drawn from monthly surveys -- move in opposite directions, they represent a staggering gap of 3 million jobs, a gap between the two surveys that is 10 times greater than that observed after the previous five recessions.

When properly interpreted, the two surveys together reveal the real emerging story line: Unable to find regular payroll employment, many workers are accepting second choice self-employment, contract labor, or off-the-books work arrangements. In other words, the growth in nonformal payroll employment over the past two years has acted as a labor market safety valve. American workers are finding that for now, their best and maybe only alternative lies somewhere between a regular wage and salary job and unemployment.

Maybe this is their choice. Or maybe state and federal wage and hour law enforcement has become so lax that employers flout payroll requirements. Or maybe the reason is that firms are able to take advantage of short-term excess labor supply conditions.

We don't really know, which is why we need a more informed understanding of what is taking place in US labor markets.

(via the Boston Glob)

Reminds me of the start of Snow Crash, where former IT professional Hiro Protagonist is living in a shipping container with a fine view of LAX. "Second choice," well, yes ....

This is the story that the Times, in its shallow way, is missing when it says that manicurists are doing just fine. in today's economy, thank you. Probably a world of servants living on tips figures largely in the Bushogarchy's vision of all the good things a flatlined jobs market can do for them.