New recession already started?

DavidSon

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Jan 10, 2019
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I agree, the US could be headed that way despite official claims. In my area I see no signs of progress. I think the cost of our infrastructure breaking down (roads, sewers, etc.) nationwide will be crippling. The topic of wages caught my eye in the Forbes article:

"...This may explain, in part, that while the overall increase in jobs is high, the average hourly earnings rose only 0.2% from the prior month. The average worker earnings rose a meager 6 cents to $27.77 an hour."

He says 31% of adults participate as gig, temp, and contract workers which has effects on the economy, job market, and employment figures:

"For a corporation, it is easier and less expensive to hire a contractor instead of a permanent employee with costly benefits. This trend depresses wages. If an employee demands more money, the company can let that person go and bring in a replacement who is a contractor. Why should a corporation have to worry about paying social security, payroll taxes and offer vacation and sick days when they could save a fortune by going with an outside consultant? These consultants don’t have long-term contracts nor are they afforded collective bargaining by being part of a union. They will race to the bottom by asking for lower rates just to get the gig before another person is offered the opportunity."

$27.77 may be the average but it says nothing about the # workers who make below that. It sounds insane to outsiders but even $27/hr, with housing, transportation, food, etc. it's difficult to support a family. There are multiple threads on this subject- the US is crumbling. The divide between rich and poor is the greatest in the world. The bankers' cheery forecasts make no sense to someone living in reality.
 

free2018

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Sep 8, 2018
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This is the truth, but everyone seems to be ignoring it. Close to 100 million who have no job at all is a lot of people. I don't see this growth people claim they have seen. A friend of mine was even positing that the growth has been minimal for at least a decade. The bank bail out should not have happened at all most likely.
 

justjess

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Mar 16, 2017
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Yeah the unemployment numbers leave a lot to be wanted but no one wants to hear it because it allows them to maintain their delusions just a bit longer.. until starving people in the streets are burning everything in site and they can’t pretend anymore. If you are not actively registered for unemployment payments or a job center seeking a job you simply do not count. So all those people using indeed only who don’t qualify for benefits or exhausted them just don’t exist as far as the official reports.

Neither do the underemployed. Not to mention the tons of people “working” but not making enough to live or getting enough hours etc.

Things are going to get real ugly before they get any better.. if they ever do
 

free2018

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Sep 8, 2018
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Things can not get better by pretending there is growth when there is not. Real estate is over inflated in the area of the country I live in and the banks are playing the same games they were playing in 2007. Many small business pundits ranging from Robert Kiyosaki to many others have been claiming a big dip is coming for years. I think the dip is already here.
 

free2018

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