[lbo-talk] jobs

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Mon Jun 7 15:47:40 PDT 2004


R wrote:


>while i'm as excited as everyone else about all these new jobs being
>reported, i have some nagging questions. maybe i'm just naive, but
>i wonder:
>
>how many are part time and temporary?

Temp: about 1 in 10, since employment growth started accelerating in Feb. Historically, accelerations in temp employment have presaged accelerations in permanent employment by several months.

Part time: the count of part-time jobs comes from the household survey, so the numbers aren't comparable to the job count in the establishment survey. Since Feb, there have been 806,000 part-time positions created, with 529,000 of them occupied by people who want part-time work, and 277,000 who'd prefer full-time work.


>do any have benefits of any kind?

Some do, some don't; we don't know yet.


>what are the work hours of these thrilling new jobs -- are they
>going to be part of the impressive productivity statistics where
>workers work endless overtime for no pay, making the rich richer and
>the poor homeless?
>
>are these jobs a ripple effect? will these jobs last or are they
>all going away if war goes away?

The gains are widely dispersed through industries - something like 70% of industrial sectors have been adding jobs in the last several months. It's not just bullet-making, as you suggested elsewhere.


>how long will it be before they are all outsourced?

Perhaps the amazing Kreskin could answer that question, but I can't. But as I've said a hundred times, outsourcing explains only a tiny portion of our ealier jobless recovery.


>do they come in time for those who've been without work for months
>and months, and who've lost their homes, to benefit?
>
>and, last but not least, do any of them pay in real money?

It looks like they're paying average wages, which ain't great, but could be worse too.

Look, it's better for the working class if employment is expanding than if it's contracting, and it's better if employment is expanding rapidly than if it's expanding slowly. Adding almost a million jobs in three months is pretty good, though we need a lot more of it.

Doug



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