Limited Labor

Even with unemployment near 20-year lows, labor is weak. In 1952, work stoppages involving 1,000 workers or more totaled 470, the most ever. In 1959, the number of lost work days from such strikes peaked at 60.85 million. As recently as 1974, there were 424 strikes, and in 1970 lost work days totaled 52.76 million. Since then, freefall. In 2017, just seven strikes, and lost days totaled a mere 440,000.