U.S. unemployment is down. Consumer confidence is up. Inflation is low. Yet many Americans feel the
135 replies, posted
[quote]The recovery has also been stronger for some than others. [B]Young adults are still having a tough time starting their careers, while older Americans are having difficulty shifting into retirement after their nest eggs were destroyed during the Great Recession.[/B]
Although the unemployment rate has fallen rapidly in the past two years, it remains at a relatively elevated level, said Justin Wolfers, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. The average jobless rate in the decade before the Great Recession hit in December 2007 was 4.9%.
[B]Americans also don't feel any better off. While more people may have jobs, they aren't bringing home fatter paychecks. Wages and income have remained stagnant for years, making it tough for folks even though inflation is low. Median household income, which stood at $51,939 last year, is back to 1995 levels.[/B]
[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/141021105525-median-household-income-620xa.jpg[/img]
Consumers expect a median income boost of 1.1% over the next year, Curtin said. But that won't keep up with their inflation expectations of 2.8%.
"American households, on average, are still struggling with their living standards slowly eroding," he said.
Not everyone, however, is suffering from flat-lining wages ... and that's also why the average American remains worried about the economy. The rich are seeing both their income and wealth rise. The wealthiest 5% of American households held 63% of all wealth in 2013, up from 54% in 1989, according to a recently released Federal Reserve survey.
[B]"Rising inequality is why Main Street doesn't feel like it's benefiting from the full fruits of the recovery," Wolfers said[/B][/quote]
[url]http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/22/news/economy/economy-election-americans-dissatisfied/index.html?hpt=hp_t2[/url]
Because working part time in a dead end job doesn't really feel like "employment"?
[QUOTE=EndOfTheWorld;46306136]Because working part time in a dead end job doesn't really feel like "employment"?[/QUOTE]
It probably didn't feel like employment before 2007 either.
[editline]22nd October 2014[/editline]
Shit's getting better. Deal with it.
[QUOTE=EndOfTheWorld;46306136]Because working part time in a dead end job doesn't really feel like "employment"?[/QUOTE]
Better than having no job... period?
[QUOTE=J!NX;46306150]Better than having no job... period?[/QUOTE]
The bare minimum for food and clothing isn't really that great. I suppose it's "better than nothing" but only very slightly.
The economy's recovering but, as always, most of the profit's going uphill so it doesn't [B]seem[/B] like fuck all is changing.
Or changing for the worse.
Because it is still shit, and living in America is expensive. On top of that there are hilariously bad job offers that want a university education, 5+ years of experience, for 10-16$ per hour or equivalent salary. I did not work my ass off through college and various jobs to be poor.
[QUOTE=Metalcastr;46306390] I did not work my ass off through college and various jobs to be poor.[/QUOTE]Hah
probably because the economy is still awful if you're not making 100k+ a year
Living is still expensive, quality of life is just a bit dipped still. Many families don't have room in their budgets to obtain "luxury items", many still are living paycheck to paycheck.
its amazing that while everybody talks and has opinion pieces on inequality, there is virtually no mention of it on capital hill
[QUOTE=Metalcastr;46306390]Because it is still shit, and living in America is expensive. On top of that there are hilariously bad job offers that want a university education, 5+ years of experience, for 10-16$ per hour or equivalent salary. I did not work my ass off through college and various jobs to be poor.[/QUOTE]Since when is $16/hour poor?
Get off your high horse. Just because you went to college doesn't mean you're better than anyone else or immediately entitled to a higher paying job.
[QUOTE=Atlascore;46306445]Getting better sure.. 0.1% better
Things are still pretty awful here, especially for people just getting out of college.[/QUOTE]
It wasn't great for people getting out of college before 2007 either.
[QUOTE=TehWhale;46306493]Since when is $16/hour poor?
Get off your high horse. Just because you went to college doesn't mean you're better than anyone else or immediately entitled to a higher paying job.[/QUOTE]
When you have rent, car insurance, bills, student loans, etc. It's not a lot of money when you have recurring costs. I'm not on a high horse. I respect anyone for their profession whether they have a college education or not, including the various trades. Hard work is hard work.
However I do expect hard work to lead to more than a minimum life, especially in America. Quit judging people so quickly.
[QUOTE=TehWhale;46306493]Since when is $16/hour poor?
Get off your high horse. Just because you went to college doesn't mean you're better than anyone else or immediately entitled to a higher paying job.[/QUOTE]
but isn't that the whole point of college, ive lost track of the times ive been told that college graduates make tons more money, part of the reason the rich stay rich is because they can afford to go through the expensive colleges and get the higher paying jobs, there probably aren't many people on capital hill that haven't gone to an ivy league college before going on to become a humble public servant with a 300k paycheck
[QUOTE=Atlascore;46306515]Okay and? Just because things have been shit a long time doesn't mean it's okay.[/QUOTE]
Never said it was, but you can't use that as an argument against how things have recovered since the recession.
[QUOTE=Metalcastr;46306508]When you have rent, car insurance, bills, student loans, etc. It's not a lot of money when you have recurring costs. I'm not on a high horse. I respect anyone for their profession whether they have a college education or not, including the various trades. Hard work is hard work.
However I do expect hard work to lead to more than a minimum life, especially in America. Quit judging people so quickly.[/QUOTE]No, it's not a lot of money. But you're by no means poor. I had lived on $18/hour for almost two years with everything you mentioned above minus student loans. That was my whole issue with your post was that you implied someone who makes $16/hour is poor.
[QUOTE=TehWhale;46306573]No, it's not a lot of money. But you're by no means poor. I had lived on $18/hour for almost two years with everything you mentioned above minus student loans. That was my whole issue with your post was that you implied someone who makes $16/hour is poor.[/QUOTE]
Again you're assuming I actually make even that. What qualifies as poor to you? Isn't barely having any money left, scraping by considered poor? America is expensive, many areas more expensive than others.
According to this: [url]https://www.aier.org/cost-living-calculator[/url]
making $51,939.00 in 2013 is equal to making [B]$34,029.00 in 1995[/B], so yes, people should still feel like they aren't making enough money, considering that $51,939.00 was a comfortable amount of money to make in 1995.
EDIT:[B] My information was incorrect[/B]
[QUOTE=catbarf;46319010][url]http://www.davemanuel.com/median-household-income.php[/url]
Actual median household income in 1995 was $32,830. The figure is already adjusted for inflation.[/QUOTE]
Actually he's right, the chart was already adjusted for inflation. Forgive me.
With the increasing price of a college education and resulting joblessness, it won't be long before we end up with another lost generation; and that's just the best case scenario.
Unemployment and consumer confidence are good but not complete metrics for how well an economy is performing.
Underemployment or unemployment factoring people who left the workforce, as well as inequality among the classes, as well as by race/gender/sexuality, are much better metrics, and most of them show very little improvement if not degradation since 2007.
[QUOTE=TehWhale;46306493]Since when is $16/hour poor?
Get off your high horse. Just because you went to college doesn't mean you're better than anyone else or immediately entitled to a higher paying job.[/QUOTE]
I did unskilled summer work here for 12€ an hour. Face it, 16 dollars an hour is not what a university grad should be making.
[QUOTE=Sableye;46306460]its amazing that while everybody talks and has opinion pieces on inequality, there is virtually no mention of it on capital hill[/QUOTE]
There are murmurs once in a while. Republicans say it is not an issue, Libertarians say it is great, and Democrats give it lip service but never do anything about it.
Aren't a lot of these unemployement numbers artificially low with how loose they verify things? Basically you are unemployed if you are looking for work? If you stop looking you're not counted, last I checked.
People feel like it is shit because majority of people live off of less then 20k a year and many people hold 2-3 jobs. Majority of people who have two people in the house working so they can make a combined income of like 50k.
Move to Aus
It's nicer here <3, in virtually every way
[QUOTE=En-Guage;46307186]Move to Aus
It's nicer here <3, in virtually every way[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://i.cubeupload.com/wZ5F9s.jpg[/IMG]
Every way?
[QUOTE=En-Guage;46307186]Move to Aus
It's nicer here <3, in virtually every way[/QUOTE]
Fatter and more racist
Not even that, lets put this into perspective, in 1996, the average minimum wage was $4.75/hr as of Oct. 1 1996. The minimum wage as of 2009 has been $7.25. The value of $4.75 in 1996 is the same as $7.21 in 2014 dollars.
Lets convert this to gallons of petrol.
The cost of a gallon of petrol back in 1996 was $1.23
This would be $1.87 2014 dollars.
The current price today in 2014 is roughly $3.57 on average.
Bread was $1.23 per lb (a loaf of bread is ~1lb) in 1996, aka $1.87 in 2014. The actual cost of bread in 2014 is $2.02 per lb.
Milk was roughly $2.54 in 1996, aka $3.85 in 2014. The actual cost of milk in 2014 (statistic is current as of September) is $3.73.
If you can't see anything wrong with people making about the same wages in 2014 as they did in 1996, even with milk and bread only being marginally more expensive, you'll find that everything else skyrocketed in price. The minimum wage balanced for inflation of current worth, not cost of living.
[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;46306367]The economy's recovering but, as always, most of the profit's going uphill so it doesn't [B]seem[/B] like fuck all is changing.
Or changing for the worse.[/QUOTE]
Without companies making larger profits they won't invest more into new ventures, create new places for jobs, or keep hiring.
Just because somewhere is making a "record profit" does not mean there are a bunch of rich white people in a room seeing how much money they can jerk off with.
[editline]23rd October 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=Metalcastr;46306508]When you have rent, car insurance, bills, student loans, etc. It's not a lot of money when you have recurring costs. I'm not on a high horse. I respect anyone for their profession whether they have a college education or not, including the various trades. Hard work is hard work.
However I do expect hard work to lead to more than a minimum life, especially in America. Quit judging people so quickly.[/QUOTE]
Just get a room mate, it's not that hard, it drastically reduces rent and bills.
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