Employment

[AZ Shocker]

Sorry for brevity. People are quitting their jobs at the highest rate in 20 or more years. I think working from home, among other things, has caused many people to rethink their careers. The extra benefits have also impacted many by incentivizing them to stay home. Listen to that WSJ podcast. Pretty interesting.

Absolutely. Myself and most friends I know are still working from home and it still freaking rocks!!! For one you get to save the 2 to 3 hours of communing which equals to way more quality time with family. At least in most big cities. I don't know what the avg. commute time is in Wichita these days...but I and millions of others love not sitting in my car 1/3 of the day. Saves wear and tear on your vehicle, less fuel expense and less emissions for God's sake which you would think liberal corporate America would be all for. I mean if the corporate liberal minded green agenda is truly what they want...why would they want a workforce polluting the world on their commute? Stay working in your home office!

In this day of age pretty much any office job can be done from home as long as you have a spare room or maybe no kids. This covid thing and the canceling of the world has got a high percentage of the workforce not wanting to go back to commuting, day care and losing precious time with their kids. That rat race sucks and covid exposed the workforce to see how life can be without all that mess. And people are liking it.

[wufan]

To my understanding if you are on unemployment you are counted in the unemployed numbers. With unemployment rates in Kansas at 3.7% that shows that there are just not a lot of people sittin' on ass and getting a check. This is backed up by BLS data noting that Kansas has record numbers of people working Historically 5% was considered full employment though that number is regularly breached.

At 3.7% you are dealing with difficult to employ people.

What was the lay off rate in Kansas and other low unemployment states vs the higher ones? If benefits has little to do with staying unemployed, then the number of layoffs in an area wouldn’t correlate to current unemployment. If no one was laid off, then no one got the benefits to start with.

[BOBB]

What was the lay off rate in Kansas and other low unemployment states vs the higher ones? If benefits has little to do with staying unemployed, then the number of layoffs in an area wouldn’t correlate to current unemployment. If no one was laid off, then no one got the benefits to start with.

https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST200000000000006?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true

About 140k got pink slips between March and April. There are 6k more people in Kansas working today than there were in February of 2020. The numbers don't lie. If you follow the link you can see that labor participation rate has been trending down and that's not good overall, but you have to go back to 2016 to see it as high as it is today. People are working across Kansas relative to the population at high or higher rates than recent past.

Start hiring ex-cons, stop testing for marijuana, provide child care and pay more and you'll increase the labor participation rate.

Btw - nationwide the labor participation rate is much lower than Kansas. The states with the lowest rates?

1. Mississippi (53.0%)
2. West Virginia (54.2%)
3. New Mexico (54.5%)
4. Florida (55.2%)
5. Nevada (56.1%)
6. Louisiana (57.1%)
7. Arkansas (57.3%)
8. Alabama (57.8%)
9. Georgia (58.0%)
10. New York (58.0%)

[wufan]

https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST200000000000006?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true

About 140k got pink slips between March and April. There are 6k more people in Kansas working today than there were in February of 2020. The numbers don't lie. If you follow the link you can see that labor participation rate has been trending down and that's not good overall, but you have to go back to 2016 to see it as high as it is today. People are working across Kansas relative to the population at high or higher rates than recent past.

Start hiring ex-cons, stop testing for marijuana, provide child care and pay more and you'll increase the labor participation rate.

Btw - nationwide the labor participation rate is much lower than Kansas. The states with the lowest rates?

1. Mississippi (53.0%)
2. West Virginia (54.2%)
3. New Mexico (54.5%)
4. Florida (55.2%)
5. Nevada (56.1%)
6. Louisiana (57.1%)
7. Arkansas (57.3%)
8. Alabama (57.8%)
9. Georgia (58.0%)
10. New York (58.0%)

Thanks. How does this correlate across states? KS went from 3.5 to 12.5 and back to 3.5%.

Did other states see similar swings? My hypothesis is that for states that saw higher layoffs, they didn’t bounce back due to benefits. I haven’t done any research on this, so no idea what the actual numbers bare out. Also, not sure if it’s a reasonable conclusion, but if benefits (child care) is an incentive to return to work, why wouldn’t incentives (unemployment) be an incentive to stay out of work?

I don’t disagree with your policies to increase employment. There are some liability considerations when hiring low skill drug abusers (safety).

[BOBB]

Thanks. How does this correlate across states? KS went from 3.5 to 12.5 and back to 3.5%.

Did other states see similar swings? My hypothesis is that for states that saw higher layoffs, they didn’t bounce back due to benefits. I haven’t done any research on this, so no idea what the actual numbers bare out. Also, not sure if it’s a reasonable conclusion, but if benefits (child care) is an incentive to return to work, why wouldn’t incentives (unemployment) be an incentive to stay out of work?

I don’t disagree with your policies to increase employment. There are some liability considerations when hiring low skill drug abusers (safety).

https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST060000000000004?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true

California for example. Bigger layoffs, much longer lockdowns. Still trending the right way, but that labor participation rate needs to perk back up.

The balance of incentives has to match up. It's in all of our economic interest to subsidize the unemployed when there are limited jobs and to incentive work when there are too many jobs. California has many problems.

The origin of this thread though was why are Kansas jobs going unfilled and the data is pretty clear that there are more opportunities than workers. Send recruiters with moving vans to Mississippi and West Virginia.

[wufan]

https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LASST060000000000004?amp%253bdata_tool=XGtable&output_view=data&include_graphs=true

California for example. Bigger layoffs, much longer lockdowns. Still trending the right way, but that labor participation rate needs to perk back up.

The balance of incentives has to match up. It's in all of our economic interest to subsidize the unemployed when there are limited jobs and to incentive work when there are too many jobs. California has many problems.

The origin of this thread though was why are Kansas jobs going unfilled and the data is pretty clear that there are more opportunities than workers. Send recruiters with moving vans to Mississippi and West Virginia.

I took it as a nation wide issue. Talking about different issues I suppose.

[BOBB]

I took it as a nation wide issue. Talking about different issues I suppose.

Upon review, you are correct. Still holds that if you can't get served at a Kansas restaurant it has no more to do with basement dwelling Cheeto-eaters than it did in 2019. California? Not my problem.

[BOBB]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/27/b...gtype=Homepage
HIring only only experienced servers? $10.00 for a home health aide and hat needs their own transportation? Would you feel comfortable leaving an infirmed parent with someone making less than Taco Bell?

These guys get it:

"The hotel, which is on a major bus line, raised its starting wage to $13.50 an hour, the second increase in two months. It also offers benefits and a $50-a-month transportation allowance. The number of applicants shot up — to 40 from a handful the previous month — after the second wage increase."

Can you get people there? Can you train them? Can you give them benefits? They will work. Are there layabouts and malingerers on the margins? Of course. Most people want to go to work, come home and prop their feet up and crack a cool one with the comfort of knowing it was earned.

[BOBB]

Nm

[wufan]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/27/b...gtype=Homepage
HIring only only experienced servers? $10.00 for a home health aide and hat needs their own transportation? Would you feel comfortable leaving an infirmed parent with someone making less than Taco Bell?

These guys get it:

"The hotel, which is on a major bus line, raised its starting wage to $13.50 an hour, the second increase in two months. It also offers benefits and a $50-a-month transportation allowance. The number of applicants shot up — to 40 from a handful the previous month — after the second wage increase."

Can you get people there? Can you train them? Can you give them benefits? They will work. Are there layabouts and malingerers on the margins? Of course. Most people want to go to work, come home and prop their feet up and crack a cool one with the comfort of knowing it was earned.

I think this points to a capitalist free market working. The issue is that the wages (and costs) are being driven up by government intervention. The thing the left always bitches about is the US meddling in foreign affairs. That’s not wrong. Why can’t they see the gov meddling domestically?

[ShockingButTrue]

The thing the left always bitches about is the US meddling in foreign affairs. That’s not wrong. Why can’t they see the gov meddling domestically?

Maybe because they support it? Have you thought of that yet?

Why do you believe the "resist" party should/would oppose it, when they're the ones calling the shots now?

[wufan]

Maybe because they support it? Have you thought of that yet?

Why do you believe the "resist" party should/would oppose it, when they're the ones calling the shots now?

Let me restate for you: I find intellectual dishonesty in the idea that it is okay to meddle domestically but not okay for foreign meddling.

[SHOCKvalue]

It's hard to say this because I genuinely think most of what comes out of his mouth is some combination of utter nonsense and parroting what he is coached to say, but when Biden says the shortage or workers could be solved with higher pay I'd hazard a guess he is correct. It is as basic of an economic example as there is. I'm not arguing for a government decree "living wage", but the employment market is more or less indicating the need for that in a passive manner. The textbook example is staring us in the face, but one side is not budging.

I'm guessing that's why both sides - the kooky dems and the old guard class in the GOP - are both essentially just fine with unmitigated illegal immigration, even if they don't expressly say as much. It has happened for years - illegal immigrants happy to work for a lower wage than US citizens. It has all but decimated multi-generational building tradesmen. The biggest detriment of the working class in the US is not the left or the right, it is illegal immigration willing to work for nothing. Future voters and happy butterflies of diversity for the left; cheap labor for the big money, big business side of the right.

[ShockerPrez]

It's hard to say this because I genuinely think most of what comes out of his mouth is some combination of utter nonsense and parroting what he is coached to say, but when Biden says the shortage or workers could be solved with higher pay I'd hazard a guess he is correct. It is as basic of an economic example as there is. I'm not arguing for a government decree "living wage", but the employment market is more or less indicating the need for that in a passive manner. The textbook example is staring us in the face, but one side is not budging.

I'm guessing that's why both sides - the kooky dems and the old guard class in the GOP - are both essentially just fine with unmitigated illegal immigration, even if they don't expressly say as much. It has happened for years - illegal immigrants happy to work for a lower wage than US citizens. It has all but decimated multi-generational building tradesmen. The biggest detriment of the working class in the US is not the left or the right, it is illegal immigration willing to work for nothing. Future voters and happy butterflies of diversity for the left; cheap labor for the big money, big business side of the right.

It's really difficult to know what the real 'living wage' should be any more. Prices for things are so inflated artificial forces outside of the true market for things. My issue with 'living wage' estimates is that the $15.00 number seems to be pulled out of someone's posterior. Why not $20.00? Why not $50? At some point the people who propose such will say 'Well that's too much'. So if you get to that point, then you have to ask them where they get $15, if they know that $50 is too much?

And everyone expects to have things that were not necessary to live just 30 or 40 years ago. Shelter, utilities, food, car.... Cell phone, nice car, internet, cable, etc.

But I also think that corporate welfare needs to go. Money spent or given to corporations should be spent with direct payments to individuals. Period.

There is just so many variables that go into the whole job market and pay.

[wufan]

It's really difficult to know what the real 'living wage' should be any more. Prices for things are so inflated artificial forces outside of the true market for things. My issue with 'living wage' estimates is that the $15.00 number seems to be pulled out of someone's posterior. Why not $20.00? Why not $50? At some point the people who propose such will say 'Well that's too much'. So if you get to that point, then you have to ask them where they get $15, if they know that $50 is too much?

And everyone expects to have things that were not necessary to live just 30 or 40 years ago. Shelter, utilities, food, car.... Cell phone, nice car, internet, cable, etc.

But I also think that corporate welfare needs to go. Money spent or given to corporations should be spent with direct payments to individuals. Period.

There is just so many variables that go into the whole job market and pay.

So, how about no gov payments to anyone?