Jobless Recoveries

In recessions between 1950 and 1982, GDP always fell by more than employment, and as a result productivity per worker declined. Starting with the 1990-91 recession, things reversed. In that recession, GDP declined 1.2% yet employment fell by 1.7%. In the 2001 recession, GDP fell by 0.3% while employment fell by 1.2%, and in the…

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A Job-Loss Recovery

A glance at the employment-to-population ratio (EPR) is all it takes to see how poorly our economy and job market are performing. The EPR peaked at 64.7% in 4/00, and now sits at just 58.4% – a fall of 6.3 percentage points, which translates to a loss of 20 million working people! Worse, it’s declined…

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