Sunday, August 05, 2007
Why People Aren't Excited About The Economy
In a story about high paying jobs not materializing in this recovery in Washington State, a telling statistic was shown.
The Employment Security Department's April survey of job vacancies found that, of the 87,447 openings reported statewide, 46 percent paid less than $10 an hour; another 26 percent paid between $10 and $15 an hour. Though registered nurses, with a median hourly wage of $23.55, were most in demand, the next highest-demand jobs were cashiers, farmworkers and retail salespeople — all offering a median wage of $8 an hour.
72% of jobs being offered pay less than $30,000 a year. Nearly half pay less than $20,000 a year. When the jackasses scream on tv about how wonderful things are going, this is why they aren't believed. Good paying jobs are the exception not the rule for people looking for work.
Update:
More than 5,000 people applied for 300 new jobs at the Wal-Mart Supercenter that opens Wednesday in Livonia.
The 210,000-square-foot store is the first Wal-Mart in metro Detroit to sell groceries. The store will employ 530 workers, some of whom transferred from the smaller Livonia store that closes tomorrow evening, said store manager Rita Acosta.
A ratio of sixteen people applying for every 1 job at a Wal-Mart gives one a good idea of how the economy is going in this country. Those 300 new workers will be added to the job rolls and we will be told that the economy is growing quickly there.
It dovetails with a story from July in the Chicago Tribune.
No job lasts forever, especially a $30-an-hour assembly line job. Cheryl Seaton recognized that a long time ago, which is why she went back to college to pick up a degree that would insulate her from the economic wreckage she sensed was coming.
It didn't help. When the end neared for her auto parts assembly plant last year, Seaton, 52, walked off the loading dock, armed with a bachelor's degree. In January she began work as a mental health caseworker for a third less money.
Seaton is paid $9.45 an hour, less than what her 21-year-old daughter earns as a truck dispatcher.
This is the new American economy.
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