For the first time since 2008, the US unemployment rate is "5.9%". - Polidicks

[QUOTE](Reuters) - U.S. employers ramped up hiring in September and the jobless rate fell to a six-year low, bolstering bets the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in mid-2015. Friday's report on employment is the most significant gauge of the economy's health ahead of Nov. 4 congressional elections. While President Barack Obama's message of an improving economy has been hampered by weakness in wages that persisted through last month, the data nevertheless underscored the strides the labor market has made this year. U.S. non-farm payrolls rose by 248,000 last month and the jobless rate fell two-tenths of a point to 5.9 percent, the lowest since July 2008, the Labor Department said. "Today's jobs report shows, at long last, what employment growth looks like in a balanced economic expansion," said Robert Shapiro, an economist at Sonecon.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/03/us-usa-economy-idUSKCN0HS09020141003[/url] Now we should raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars so these people aren't being paid slave wages.

[QUOTE=LoganIsAwesome;46143056]Now we should raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars so these people aren't being paid slave wages.[/QUOTE] And everything else will cost more. Great thinking.

The unemployment rate doesn't count people who have stopped trying to find work.

[QUOTE=Shinycow;46143092]And everything else will cost more. Great thinking skills.[/QUOTE] If we raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, most things will barely go up 4 dollars. Such blasphemy. 900,000 families will be lifted out of poverty if we do this and we won't be spending so much on welfare since many families will be supportive of themselves. Use your head. If the minimum wage was still indexed to inflation it'd be $23 an hour.

[QUOTE=Shinycow;46143092]And everything else will cost more. Great thinking.[/QUOTE] But everything already costs more, so what you're saying is: Don't raise Min. Wage: Everything costs more and the young / poor are thrown under the bus. Do raise Min. Wage: Everything costs double more and the young / poor are still under the bus. What is the solution then?

[QUOTE=Shinycow;46143092]And everything else will cost more. Great thinking.[/QUOTE] Tie minimum wage to cost of living, then the corporations can inflate prices to their hearts content, it'll just go up with it, then maybe when they get tired of that game they will still be making money. McDonald's Europe has a higher profit even though they have to obide by European wage laws

[QUOTE=Grimhound;46143102]The unemployment rate doesn't count people who have stopped trying to find work.[/QUOTE] The U6 rate is better at judging unemployment in my opinion, which still shows that unemployment has improved quite a bit since Obama took office during the recession. It's at 11.8% and down from 17.1% in 2009. I'm not an avid supporter of Obama and it's probably going to lead to a heated argument whether he had any direct responsibility in improving the economy, but it's still nice to see us rebounding after such a struggle.

The rate of official "unemployment" doesn't mean jack fuck when the percentage of people [b]barely[/b] making a livable wage is [b]much[/b] higher. Looks good on paper I guess though. [editline]3rd October 2014[/editline] [QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;46143131]But everything already costs more, so what you're saying is: Don't raise Min. Wage: Everything costs more and the young / poor are thrown under the bus. Do raise Min. Wage: Everything costs double more and the young / poor are still under the bus. What is the solution then?[/QUOTE] Going back in time and decapitating Reagan and Nixon

In order to get good indicators you'll have to look at more than just the unemployment level. Looking at and comparing: - Unemployment % - Labor force participation rate - Breakdown of wages across industries (and % of total employment) A good indicator would be a higher participation rate combined with a lower unemployment. But yeah and someone said above wages make a big difference too. Current labor force participation rate ([URL="http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000"]Source[/URL]): [IMG]http://puu.sh/bY21x/389e33e9ef.png[/IMG] [editline]3rd October 2014[/editline] Keep in mind the current labor force size is ~155 million, and in 2004 it was ~146 million.

[QUOTE=Shinycow;46143092]And everything else will cost more. Great thinking.[/QUOTE] Strangely the research doesn't support this theory. It seems like it would be true, but it oddly never seems to hold up under analysis.

200k jobs/month sounds good. I wonder what's the figure for other places around the world. [editline]3rd October 2014[/editline] I just looked it up, China has 80% labor participation rate. [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_labour_force"]800million[/URL] people are working in China... South Africa has 40%...

[URL="http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-10-03/labor-participation-rate-drops-36-year-low-record-926-million-americans-not-labor-fo"]Meanwhile the labor participation rate is at a 36 year low.[/URL] Unemployment rate statistics are generally bullshit. I would avoid using it as a gauge of how the economy is doing.

[QUOTE=Shinycow;46143092]And everything else will cost more. Great thinking.[/QUOTE] If Walmart adjusted their wages so the lowest paid employee could make enough so they didn't still qualify for financial aid, a box of macaroni would go up by like, less than a dime.

The minimum wage where I live went up $1 from $10 to $11. Wednesday nights is prime rib night. It used to cost $8.99. I went 2 weeks ago and now it costs $9.99. I asked the waitress what happened, she said it was because minimum wage went up. The owner raised everything on the menu $1.00. Not taking a side on anything. I just thought it was interesting. Most likely just the owner finding an excuse.

And for real, I'd be totally down to pay like a few extra bucks on every purchase if it meant the workers weren't getting paid like nothing.

[QUOTE=LoganIsAwesome;46143113]If we raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour, most things will barely go up 4 dollars. Such blasphemy. 900,000 families will be lifted out of poverty if we do this and we won't be spending so much on welfare since many families will be supportive of themselves. Use your head. If the minimum wage was still indexed to inflation it'd be $23 an hour.[/QUOTE] There are other ways to help the working poor other than raising the min wage. Especially since a lot of people who make minimum age aren't poor (i.e. students/part time workers), and there are a lot of poor people who make more than minimum wage. I prefer the earned income tax credit. It's basically a negative income tax rate. This way,those who are actually poor get the help they need and employers don't have to cut jobs to meet the cost of higher wages.

Higher minimum wage is literally forced charity. I would much rather the government just give people money than force the employer to. A negative income tax would be a great solution.

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;46143628]There are other ways to help the working poor other than raising the min wage. Especially since a lot of people who make minimum age aren't poor (i.e. students/part time workers), and there are a lot of poor people who make more than minimum wage. I prefer the earned income tax credit. It's basically a negative income tax rate. This way,those who are actually poor get the help they need and employers don't have to cut jobs to meet the cost of higher wages.[/QUOTE] "A lot" of min wage workers being teens is a myth, because most min wage workers are over the age of 30 or so. I have a source for that bookmarked, so I'll whip it out when I'm home and on my computer.

I wish it was 0.01

[QUOTE=sgman91;46143649]Higher minimum wage is literally forced charity. I would much rather the government just give people money than force the employer to. A negative income tax would be a great solution.[/QUOTE] We kind of have that, but it needs some work. Earned Income tax credit.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;46143131]But everything already costs more, so what you're saying is: Don't raise Min. Wage: Everything costs more and the young / poor are thrown under the bus. Do raise Min. Wage: Everything costs double more and the young / poor are still under the bus. What is the solution then?[/QUOTE]There isn't one.

[QUOTE=milkandcooki;46143651]"A lot" of min wage workers being teens is a myth, because most min wage workers are over the age of 30 or so. I have a source for that bookmarked, so I'll whip it out when I'm home and on my computer.[/QUOTE] Hmm, please do. I'd be interested in reading it.

[QUOTE=MillySoose;46143710]There isn't one.[/QUOTE] No the solution is to raise Minimum Wage and see if it works. And I say it will.

It's called minimum wage for a reason, and it should at the very least cover the basic costs of living. Nobody should have to work several job just to get by. Now, we don't have a minimum wage here, but it's pretty hard to find a job that pays less than $15, so of course everything costs a little bit more, but not like the prices would be halved if we had a $7 minimum wage. Not even close.

[QUOTE=Jodern;46143807]It's called minimum wage for a reason, and it should at the very least cover the basic costs of living. Nobody should have to work several job just to get by. Now, we don't have a minimum wage here, but it's pretty hard to find a job that pays less than $15, so of course everything costs a little bit more, but [B]not like the prices would be halved if we had a $7 minimum wage. Not even close.[/B][/QUOTE] I would also like to see any sources someone might have on this as well. I'm not trying to heckle you or anything, but people say this a lot and I want some concrete evidence to back it up.

[QUOTE=Splash Attack;46143856]I would also like to see any sources someone might have on this as well. I'm not trying to heckle you or anything, but people say this a lot and I want some concrete evidence to back it up.[/QUOTE] I can't really give you any statistics on it, but it seems to make perfect sense to me. Minimum wage workers are what, 20% - 25% of the total workforce, so doubling the wage of 25 % of the population shouldn't double the prices. Then there's the fact that only a fraction of the total production costs go towards local wages, again no idea of the actual stats, but I'd wager it isn't much. A doubling of that shouldn't affect the prices too much, certainly not double them.

[QUOTE=TornadoAP;46143757]No the solution is to raise Minimum Wage and see if it works. And I say it will.[/QUOTE] Go ahead. I'll see you at square 1.

[QUOTE=sgman91;46143649]Higher minimum wage is literally forced charity. I would much rather the government just give people money than force the employer to. A negative income tax would be a great solution.[/QUOTE] I feel like you try to take the most outrageous and and controversial stance on every issue you comment on.

[QUOTE=MillySoose;46143710]There isn't one.[/QUOTE] No there is, raise minimum wage, we have done it tons of times in the past and no economic ruin followed, in fact the 1950s when most american men had military pensions from ww2 and government benefits the economy actually grew, and people actually could make a living wage

[QUOTE=LoganIsAwesome;46143056][url]http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/03/us-usa-economy-idUSKCN0HS09020141003[/url] Now we should raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars so these people aren't being paid slave wages.[/QUOTE] If they double the minimum wage, I better get paid double in IT.