Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Unemployment is low only because 'involuntary' part-time work is high

https://www.businessinsider.com/unemployment-vs-involuntary-part-time-work-underemployment-2019-1?fbclid=IwAR1ZUJzYoQlYWmaDt5omvjJZY2u8jTFM0MZZym_borK7z_u8icp3X7wiAEA&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=topbar&utm_term=desktop&referrer=facebook

Jim Edwards
Jan. 27, 2019,

Unemployment is at record lows in both the UK and the US.
But "involuntary" part-time work is at least 40% higher in both countries than it was 10 years ago.
The structure of the labour market has fundamentally changed, and what we used to think of as "unemployment" has been replaced by mass part-time work, much of it unwanted. [They want full-time work.]
"Gig economy" jobs are to blame, according to Rob Valletta of the San Francisco Fed.

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Pay rates no longer move upward as unemployment moves downward because companies like Uber, Amazon, Just Eat, and Deliveroo switch their demand for labour on and off, on a minute-by-minute basis. Self-employed folks making a living on Etsy, Airbnb, or eBay know their clients instantly go elsewhere if they raise their prices by even a few pennies.

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