Labor Day

Labor Day is upon us, so I figured I would discuss work, unemployment and their effects on our psyche.

The current unemployment rate nationally is 4.3% though the labor participation rate is 60.2%.  A lot of people don't understand what these numbers really mean.  Very basically, the unemployment rate is only looking at the percentage of people out of a job and looking.  The labor participation rate is the actual percentage of people with a job.  These numbers will never line up for several reasons.  There are men and women who choose not to work to manage the household, others who are sick, full-time students, etc.

What we should see, though, are corresponding fluctuations.  When you look at these charts going back to 2007, you see that initially, but then they diverge a bit.  Starting in October of 2009, the unemployment rate starts dropping significantly and pretty steadily.  The labor participation rate, however, stays very flat for the next 4 years.  The participation rate in October 2013 is lower than October 2009, yet the unemployment rate improved from 10% to 7.2%.  People stopped looking for jobs.

I am not getting into policy here, but rather how dangerous a situation that is.  When people stop looking for jobs they have given in to despair.  Searching indicates hope, which is needed for one to be happy.  At the end of 2013, we had a lot of unhappy, hopeless people out there.  I am afraid that many of them resorted to crime, alcohol, drugs to cope or get by.  How many became abusive in their personal relationships?

Worst of all, this set an example for millions of then teenagers.  They saw their parents and neighbors give in and possibly turn ugly.  They heard complaints about greedy companies eliminating their jobs, no good government policies that won't help them and racial complaints that "they" have it easy or are exploiting the situation.  Occupy Wall Street started September 2011, shortly after what I would argue was the middle of the low point of our economy.

Occupy Wall Street was clearly the inspiration of the current iteration of Antifa.  They share common tactics and both want the current system shut down.  The Alt-Right seems to have been a reaction to BLM, which seemed to be filled with disaffected and unemployed youth.  All of these groups are looking for an outlet for their grievances.

If the people of our country hadn't fallen into despair for those 4 years, I don't think we would see these violent clashes of opposing ideologies.  We wouldn't see the ugliness and anger in these people.  So much property and lives wouldn't have been lost.  The most concerning aspect in all of this to me is it is the younger half of the millennial generation.  The actions of these people will directly influence the mindset of the generation coming after them.  Let's hope the influence is for the positive.