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U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

nbcnews.com

181–190 of 377 posts

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#181
post #118
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can move to Singapore, if you want a better healthcare sector. (The UK spends very roughly half of what the US spends on healthcare in terms of percentage of GDP. That's total (public plus private) expenditure. Singapore spends very roughtly half of what the UK spends by the same measure. Health outcomes amongst the three countries are comparable. If anything, Singapore is healthier.)

Singapore numbers ignore their underclass, which is significant. But you're right, if you're a westerner, Singapore's great.

Any 'underclass' also contributes to GDP and consumes healthcare. How is any of this ignored?

But yes, I agree that the US should let in more migrant workers. Good for the workers and good for the target country: cheap infrastructure is great!

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#182

As a data scientist it is very frustrating to see a consistent lack of error bars on these numbers or any discussion about the magnitude of uncertainty around them by all news reports every time these numbers get released

The bureau of labor statistics publishes confidence intervals in their reports

NBC wouldn't know how to navigate bls.gov if you put a gun to their head. And it's all downhill from there

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#183
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can move to Singapore, if you want a better healthcare sector. (The UK spends very roughly half of what the US spends on healthcare in terms of percentage of GDP. That's total (public plus private) expenditure. Singapore spends very roughtly half of what the UK spends by the same measure. Health outcomes amongst the three countries are comparable. If anything, Singapore is healthier.)

Singapore is the beneficiary of a neighboring impoverished itinerant workforce to supplement its own collapsing demographics with artificially cheap services. It’s hardly replicable most places.

> It’s hardly replicable most places.

How so? What's hard to replicate here? Many rich places could let in more migrant workers. It's good for the workers, and good for the receiving country.

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#184

govt is resetting the baseline now, so we will see some good numbers in November. it's all about optics for mid term.

if the government was able to lie on the jobs report, why wouldn't they just continuously pretend that jobs are up from now all the way through the election? (all the way through to the presidential election, for that matter)

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So is the USA...

No it isn’t. Malaysians commute across the river daily and then return at night, having provided their services in exchange for compensation. Singapore gets the work without many of the associated problems with housing those people long term. As a result, there are some ridiculously niche jobs in Singapore that would not exist in another rich country, such as widespread domestic servitude and manual street sweeping

How is that different from people living in New Jersey and commuting to Manhattan?

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#186

These jobs lost/gained and unemployment statistics, especially on a monthly basis, and when the numbers are so small, are just noise. Seasonal adjustments alone (baseline assumptions on how many people should be employed) make them meaningless, as does the government definition of being unemployed or looking for work. As far as the government is concerned if you have been looking for a job for so long and/or are so d…

> The BLS said employment contracted the most in “local government education,” which declined by 50,000 roles, likely reflecting teachers during summer break

Are most teachers considered and counted as unemployed during summner break? All the teachers I know are paid 12 months a year. 10-month appointments are seen in colleges and universities but even there professors often have grants that pay for their research in the summer and even if not I don't think I'd consider them "unemployed" in the summer.

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#187

And, as a result, the market is ... up?

Yeah, I'll never understand the disconnect between Wall Street and the mudslide of diarrhetic bad news that has been rolling in constantly.

skill issue. Solved by having the correct model of the world and forces acting on it given (appropriately weighted) current context and your usual variance.

It's usually people who don't understand the context or assign appropriate weights to events and allow randomness that complain about not understanding markets.

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#188

What is also interesting is that the only sector thad added jobs was health care.

Not strange. All the money and wealth is in the hands of the olds and olds need much more health care than the young. So it's a gold rush to get their juicy dollars.

I know i'm just one guy but I'm 50 and the old people i know are very poor and supported entirely by their children. It would be interesting to see the median and mean wealth for people >70 and compare the two.

Re: U.S. economy lost 23,000 jobs in July, a sudden reversal

#190
post #170

> The BLS said employment contracted the most in “local government education,” which declined by 50,000 roles, likely reflecting teachers during summer break. This is not entirely accurate. AFAIK, teachers usually remain on payroll throughout the summer. This stat _might_ be talking about contractual teaching roles, like adjuncts or subs, but it's hard to say from that BLS category.

This is correct, teachers don't just stop getting paid and lose all benefits every summer (my best friend is a teacher and so is his brother), but at the same time it seems tons of schools now prefer (or are only able to find positions for) short contracts, more subs and temporary positions etc.

Especially if its not in a well funded area.

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