This article highlights the fact that the economy depends on the American labor force, and the labor force depends on demographic changes. Some changes are that the number of workers ages 45-54 is expected to decrease, the number of workers older than 54 is expected to increase (raise in retirement ages because fewer young workers pay social security taxes), and the number of workers younger than 45 and as young as 16-24 is expected to decrease (more people will seek higher education). With these changes, the country will have to increase the number of workers (immigrants can help with this) in order to improve the economy.
The labor force is beginning to grow at a more moderate pace. Even though the labor force is growing as a whole due to baby boomers delaying their retirement, the growth is still slower. The slow growth has made the unemployment rate fall to 7.7 percent. The amount of young workers is expected to fall in years to come because more people are gaining higher degrees and education. In order to find a high paying job, you need a higher degree. More and more people are retiring later and working past 65. When there are less young workers to pay social security, it causes them to have to retire later. K.B PD 6
I thought the article about labor was interesting because it makes sense and might one day effect those of us who go into the work force. If I'm in my fifties, I probably won't want to work either but my parents are well into their midlives and they are still working. A lot. Still, I always thought that if something happens too fast or too slow then you will have problems. Maybe it is good that the labor market is getting time to grow now rather than later. The economy still has to recover from the recession.
I think its interesting to see how the labor force has changed over the past few decades. It has gone from growing at a rapid rate to a moderate pace. I also thought it was ironic how a smaller percentage of people actually want jobs than in the previous years. Since the recession, its been difficult to find jobs, and it is still difficult. I find it interesting how decades ago, it was said that there should be an increase in 150,000 jobs per month in order to accommodate new entrants to the labor force. There is an increase in fear that the unemployment rate will remain high unless the pace of this job creation rises as it did decades ago. Despite the current state of the economy, the article states that the unemployment rate has actually decreased by 2.1 percent. The hope is that the unemployment rate will drop even further so that more people will be able to work in the future.
I found this article to be an interesting look at what has changed within the labor market in the past decades and what is expected to change in the coming years. This article also takes a beyond-the-surface look at the unemployment rate. I find its emphasis on demographic changes as having an influence on the employment situation something that seems not to be frequently brought up today. It’s interesting to note how “given the changes in the labor force,” the break-even rate for unemployment is now 90,000 jobs a month though it was 150,000 jobs a month just a few years ago. Furthermore, I was intrigued by the fact that the unemployment rate dropped from 9.8 to 7.7 percent during the past 24 months even though job creation exceeded the break-even rate by a very little amount; clearly, the demographic changes played a role here. As a discussion of the aforementioned “demographic changes,” the article says that more young people will seek higher education (college, etc.), while more older people may keep onto their jobs—some even past 65 years of age. This is particularly concerning, I think, because politicians may use this as a way to increase retirement ages—which I don’t think is a good idea if the human body may not be able to physically manage a job at such an old age. It will be very important to see how the pension policy changes over these next decades due to these demographic changes. -Neil Nizambad, student in Mr. Kramer's sixth period Economics class
I found it kind of interesting that even though there is a slow growth of jobs, the unemployment is still dropping rapidly. It means that if we continue to increase the number of jobs open, our unemployment rate should drop really low. At first, I found it shocking that the prime working ages (25 to 54) which made up 72% of the work force would drop to 64% by 2020. But then after the article explained that the reason being that more people and students would seek higher education and degrees so they would be in school longer. Therefore there would be an increase in the number of workers over 55 years old. -C.D. (period 6)
I find this article to be both informative and actually frightening. The article is basically saying that the labor market can go two ways: one being that if the pension policy is changed, and more people become dependent on investments for income, a strong stock market could encourage more older workers to retire; however the other option would be that this whole idea would go in reverse and the older workers would want their jobs for a longer amount of time. I think that either way, it is going to take a long time for our economy to look up for the young workers entering the work force. (AKA, my generation.) -Linda M
I thought the article was really interesting, showing the downward trends in the employment system. It gave hope to availability of jobs for the future and at the same time it seems really dangerous and sad because this is cutting out of the retirement funds for the elderly and benefits for immigrants, who make up a large percentage of the low income workforce. I didn't really understand this quote "the rate is about 66.6 percent, or one percentage point below the expected. If the rate were to stay at the current level until 2015, the economy would then be running at full steam or close to it, according to the calculations." The information around this quote seemed very bad, explaining the high percents in people not working, yet the economy in full steam is confusing. Will it be good or bad?
This blog about an overview of the labor market and the relevant trends is very relevant to todays economic standard in society. Its surprising to know that in the last 24 months the unemployment rate has fallen by 2.1 points which is one of the fasted declines on record to 7.7%. Its good to know that the unemployment rate has fallen because job growth has increased to 167,000 a month which is a little more than the break even rate which says in this article. This article is over all informative about the economic standard slowly getting better.
I thought that this article was very relevant to our society today. The fact that the labor force has changed so drastically, makes me realize that our work force can change any minute. It makes me think about my future plans and how I must have a backup plan! You never know what tomorrow will bring! -VM prd 6
This article puts a new perspective on my opinion of the job market. During the election when I heard the unemployment rate was under 8 percent, I was optimistic about the job market. Thinking that just because unemployment went down, means more people could get more jobs. The part of the article that worries me the most is when Floyd Norris states that the age of guaranteed retirement income may be ending. In my future plans, I always assumed that after I finished my job, whatever it was I was going to live off my pension for the rest of my life. Clearly if pension policies change, I will have to rethink my plans. -Justin M. Pd. 6
This article highlights the fact that the economy depends on the American labor force, and the labor force depends on demographic changes. Some changes are that the number of workers ages 45-54 is expected to decrease, the number of workers older than 54 is expected to increase (raise in retirement ages because fewer young workers pay social security taxes), and the number of workers younger than 45 and as young as 16-24 is expected to decrease (more people will seek higher education). With these changes, the country will have to increase the number of workers (immigrants can help with this) in order to improve the economy.
ReplyDeleteJulia M. Period 6
The labor force is beginning to grow at a more moderate pace. Even though the labor force is growing as a whole due to baby boomers delaying their retirement, the growth is still slower. The slow growth has made the unemployment rate fall to 7.7 percent. The amount of young workers is expected to fall in years to come because more people are gaining higher degrees and education. In order to find a high paying job, you need a higher degree. More and more people are retiring later and working past 65. When there are less young workers to pay social security, it causes them to have to retire later.
ReplyDeleteK.B PD 6
I thought the article about labor was interesting because it makes sense and might one day effect those of us who go into the work force. If I'm in my fifties, I probably won't want to work either but my parents are well into their midlives and they are still working. A lot. Still, I always thought that if something happens too fast or too slow then you will have problems. Maybe it is good that the labor market is getting time to grow now rather than later. The economy still has to recover from the recession.
ReplyDeleteMarissa Goldstein
I think its interesting to see how the labor force has changed over the past few decades. It has gone from growing at a rapid rate to a moderate pace. I also thought it was ironic how a smaller percentage of people actually want jobs than in the previous years. Since the recession, its been difficult to find jobs, and it is still difficult. I find it interesting how decades ago, it was said that there should be an increase in 150,000 jobs per month in order to accommodate new entrants to the labor force. There is an increase in fear that the unemployment rate will remain high unless the pace of this job creation rises as it did decades ago. Despite the current state of the economy, the article states that the unemployment rate has actually decreased by 2.1 percent. The hope is that the unemployment rate will drop even further so that more people will be able to work in the future.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Ammann
Period 6
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be an interesting look at what has changed within the labor market in the past decades and what is expected to change in the coming years. This article also takes a beyond-the-surface look at the unemployment rate. I find its emphasis on demographic changes as having an influence on the employment situation something that seems not to be frequently brought up today. It’s interesting to note how “given the changes in the labor force,” the break-even rate for unemployment is now 90,000 jobs a month though it was 150,000 jobs a month just a few years ago. Furthermore, I was intrigued by the fact that the unemployment rate dropped from 9.8 to 7.7 percent during the past 24 months even though job creation exceeded the break-even rate by a very little amount; clearly, the demographic changes played a role here. As a discussion of the aforementioned “demographic changes,” the article says that more young people will seek higher education (college, etc.), while more older people may keep onto their jobs—some even past 65 years of age. This is particularly concerning, I think, because politicians may use this as a way to increase retirement ages—which I don’t think is a good idea if the human body may not be able to physically manage a job at such an old age. It will be very important to see how the pension policy changes over these next decades due to these demographic changes.
-Neil Nizambad, student in Mr. Kramer's sixth period Economics class
I found it kind of interesting that even though there is a slow growth of jobs, the unemployment is still dropping rapidly. It means that if we continue to increase the number of jobs open, our unemployment rate should drop really low. At first, I found it shocking that the prime working ages (25 to 54) which made up 72% of the work force would drop to 64% by 2020. But then after the article explained that the reason being that more people and students would seek higher education and degrees so they would be in school longer. Therefore there would be an increase in the number of workers over 55 years old.
ReplyDelete-C.D. (period 6)
I find this article to be both informative and actually frightening. The article is basically saying that the labor market can go two ways: one being that if the pension policy is changed, and more people become dependent on investments for income, a strong stock market could encourage more older workers to retire; however the other option would be that this whole idea would go in reverse and the older workers would want their jobs for a longer amount of time. I think that either way, it is going to take a long time for our economy to look up for the young workers entering the work force. (AKA, my generation.)
ReplyDelete-Linda M
I thought the article was really interesting, showing the downward trends in the employment system. It gave hope to availability of jobs for the future and at the same time it seems really dangerous and sad because this is cutting out of the retirement funds for the elderly and benefits for immigrants, who make up a large percentage of the low income workforce. I didn't really understand this quote "the rate is about 66.6 percent, or one percentage point below the expected. If the rate were to stay at the current level until 2015, the economy would then be running at full steam or close to it, according to the calculations." The information around this quote seemed very bad, explaining the high percents in people not working, yet the economy in full steam is confusing. Will it be good or bad?
ReplyDeletePeter Myint Pd 6
This blog about an overview of the labor market and the relevant trends is very relevant to todays economic standard in society. Its surprising to know that in the last 24 months the unemployment rate has fallen by 2.1 points which is one of the fasted declines on record to 7.7%. Its good to know that the unemployment rate has fallen because job growth has increased to 167,000 a month which is a little more than the break even rate which says in this article. This article is over all informative about the economic standard slowly getting better.
ReplyDeleteNB period 6
I thought that this article was very relevant to our society today. The fact that the labor force has changed so drastically, makes me realize that our work force can change any minute. It makes me think about my future plans and how I must have a backup plan! You never know what tomorrow will bring!
ReplyDelete-VM prd 6
This article puts a new perspective on my opinion of the job market. During the election when I heard the unemployment rate was under 8 percent, I was optimistic about the job market. Thinking that just because unemployment went down, means more people could get more jobs. The part of the article that worries me the most is when Floyd Norris states that the age of guaranteed retirement income may be ending. In my future plans, I always assumed that after I finished my job, whatever it was I was going to live off my pension for the rest of my life. Clearly if pension policies change, I will have to rethink my plans.
ReplyDelete-Justin M. Pd. 6