While things are less cheery for their southern neighbors, Canada has just reported an increase in both labour participation and rising wages for the 10th straight month. This is particularly welcome news for Canada given two main threats to its economic stability. First, its reliance on raw materials – especially oil exports – means that low petroleum prices damage their …
Comparison of coal mining to national parks jobs
US president Donald Trump has talked at length about restoring US coal mining jobs despite the failure of the industry as a whole due to the transition to renewables. On the chopping block? Funding for the national parks service. Hat tip to journalist Matt Yglesias for dipping into the St. Louis Federal Reserve’s FRED database to compare trends in coal …
Private sector jobs after Obamacare
As the Republican Party in America presses toward radically rewriting the signature policy achievement of the Obama Administration, the battle cry has been that the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) cost American jobs. The charts from the Bureau of Labor Statistics do not necessarily reflect that claim.
Minimum wage increase in Seattle correlates with low unemployment
Barry Ritholz of Ritholz Wealth Management has been an ardent supported of minimum wage increase as a factor in economic growth. With this latest report on Seattle’s record low unemployment, he’s spiking the football on decoupling the increase in wages with job loss. We may have in Seattle the skunkworks for future minimum wage increases as a catalyst in job …
New nonfarm payroll jobs under the Obama administration
This chart shows ten years of job growth or loss in the U.S. economy. In it, you can see the tail end of the economic boom from debt and fake housing values, the crater that formed from paying the piper, and an almost constant trend of new jobs added after 2010.