James Freeman reports something interesting in his latest Wall Street Journal column:
What will it take to persuade potential workers to join the U.S. labor force? American small businesses have never had such a hard time trying to attract new employees. That’s according to the May employment survey from the National Federation of Independent Business, due out later today.
“Strong job growth eased in May as small businesses struggled to find workers to fill open positions,†reports NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg. He notes that survey respondents with unfilled job openings “increased from 44 percent to 48 percent, seasonally adjusted. May is the fourth consecutive month setting a record high reading for unfilled job openings. May’s reading is 26 points higher than the 48-year historical average of 22 percent.†He adds that the labor shortage is particularly acute in industries like construction, where 66% of surveyed firms reported few or no qualified applicants, an increase of 6 percentage points from the April survey.
I want to point out three things:
- A lot of the jobs on offer are probably lousy jobs as has been pointed out in numerous articles.
- Increasing wages for these jobs is a textbook example of inflation.
- Many of these small businesses are marginal operations which may not be able to increase prices without losing sales, can’t afford to lose sales, and can’t afford to operate on a lower margin.
The chickens of decades of bad fiscal, economic, immigration, and trade policy are coming home to roost.
My grandfather (a steam fitter) and my father (a pipe fitter) were union men, and we had a pretty good if simple life (mom, dad, me, and four sisters). But that was the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s. Those were not lousy jobs, but they’re gone. I have a 40 year old nephew who works part time as a chef, and lives with his parents. It’s all downhill for that generation. Being close family, the pain is very real. It’s family who are suffering from open borders and free trade. My family needs revenge. But whom?
Children have been determined to be the cause of the labor shortage.
Lack of government subsidized daycare forces parents to spend valuable time supervising their own children.
Immigration was once thought to be the solution but with foreign parents sending their unaccompanied minors into our country they only compound the problem of too many children .
Adults of working age who do migrate are suspected of engaging in behavior that ultimately leads to even more children, often over many generations.
The ultimate solution is of course, legislation.
Eighty Billion dollars for daycare infrastructure will free Americans, citizens and newcomers alike from the nonproductive drudgery of child rearing and help our economy sputter back on track.
You’ve convinced me. Mandatory birth control or forced sterilization are clearly necessary.