>As a matter of fact, almost all US workers are let go today not
>because of industrial and other political actions but because of
>dearth of them
The US labor market is very volatile In an average year the US economy both creates and destroys something like 30-35 million jobs a year in the private sector. Net gains in a good year - like the roughly 2 million during the boom - would be the result of 35 million new jobs and 33 million jobs destroyed. The net losses of the bust would be the result of 30 million new jobs and 33 million disappearing ones. At the peak in 2000, gross gains plus losses were 64% total private sector employment; in a slow year like 2004, 55%. The BLS's employment dynamics page is <http://bls.gov/bdm/home.htm>.
As I recall, the OECD did a comparative study in the early or mid-1990s and found the gross gains and losses were pretty similar to the US in other OECD countries.
Doug