Labor Pains
12/09/2013 | | econ70, Economic forecasting, economist on radio, economist on TV, eisenberg and economics, Eisenberg and housing economics, Eisenberg and public speaking, Elliot eisenberg, funniest economist, funny housing economist, Graphsandlaughs, graphsandlaughs and eisenberg, housing sales, Labor Productivity, MLS, monthly employment report, mortgage banking, Multiple listing service, net new jobs, politics and economics, Private Sector Hiring, Public speaking economist
With GDP growth at 2% for the past several years and expected through Q1/14, the recent employment rise from about 150,000 net new jobs/month in summer to about 200,000/month since seems odd. It’s because firms are finally hiring because labor productivity growth has been close to zero for the past 15 months, down from 3.3% in 2009 and 2010. Thus, firms must hire more people to make more stuff.