Topic: Economics
63,000 Jobs Lost in February The bleak jobs report of Friday, March 7 only tells part of the story.by Chuck Angier
(libertarian)
Sunday, March 9, 2008
The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday released a grim jobs report showing that we lost a seasonally adjusted 63,000 jobs in February. I'm afraid that this is only part of the story. In the table below, I have ranked the 21 "top" losing and winning categories in the February '08 jobs report. Keep in mind that several of the categories overlap.
The first line tells the story. The private sector actually lost 101,000 jobs! This means that the government gained 38,000 jobs. So much for smaller government!
We lost 89,000 "goods-producing" jobs, (jobs that create tangible value) but gained 26,000 "service-providing" jobs (intangible value) to come up with the net loss of 63,000. My oh my, isn't a "service" economy wonderful?
Government and health care gained a combined 75,000 jobs while manufacturing and construction lost a combined 91,000 jobs. Of the 21 winners, 7 of them were "government" or sectors of government, 6 were health care or sectors of health care, 3 were leisure and ALL of them were services! Oh how I love progress!
Manufacturing and construction were the big losers. Certain employment and ancillary services took it on the chin also thanks to the economic downturn.
Some argue that the bleak February jobs report is a "fluke" due to the economic downturn. I beg to differ. A picture is worth a thousand words. We've been losing our jobs base for years.
I have no idea why "Trade, Transportation and Utilities" are grouped together. One could argue that this is done so that at least one sector provides more jobs than the government!
We currently have fewer jobs in manufacturing, the economic engine of any thriving economy, than at any time since World War II! 40% of our jobs were in manufacturing during the war, falling to 30% just after the war then gradually declining to somewhere around 10% now.
Government and Education & Health Services have a lock on 2nd and 3rd place, but wait...we already know that government funds nearly 50% of health care and the lion's share of (public) education, so doesn't that mean that we have another 9-18 million jobs directly or indirectly funded by the government?
We also have, as just one tiny example, at least 630,000 private sector service jobs in the tax compliance business that would evaporate if we had a simple tax system, jobs that don't really add value to the economy other than helping us keep what is rightfully ours!
The government promotes the fact that government jobs as a percentage of total jobs has actually declined in the last 30 or so years. What goes unreported is the volume of private sector jobs that have been created to provide services to the bloated behemoth. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, there are no reporting statistics to enable us to analyze this. How convenient. Can we say "Duped"?
Right here in Virginia, much of our geriatric, mental health, corrections and snow removal services (among others) have been privatized. Has the state payroll declined? Is the government smaller and less intrusive? Never mind what's happening on the Federal level.
And finally,
Pardon me for being uneducated and old fashioned, but don't vibrant economies reap or purchase raw materials then build stuff and make things? We have been led by our servants into the haloed "Service Economy". Can we say "duped" again! This means that we buy all our stuff and things from someone else, including most recently, a $35 billion contract for 179 refueling tankers. Never mind the Chinese combat boots we've been buying for years.
Yes, we are in a service economy. I've not yet found a society that flourished in a service economy. In fact, I think the term itself is a recent fabrication by those that wish to relegate us to mediocrity. Service economies stink!
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