Poor Job Growth Underreported by the Mainstream Media
October 2006

Sophomore Mary Stone has been having trouble finding suitable employment. "I've been looking for a new job for a few months, and I can't find one that pays enough," Said Stone. She also complains that of the few businesses that are offering jobs don't provide benefits, and mentions the apparent discrepancy between the economic picture that she sees portrayed on television and her own situation.

There is a changing climate in the job market that is not reflected in unemployment numbers or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Despite receiving little or no media attention, overall private sector job growth in the United States in the last five years has been running in the negative. There are increasingly more people in the country than there are jobs.

Economists estimate that the country needs to add at least 150,000 jobs a month just to keep up with population growth. Recent figures from the Labor Department show that an average of 137,000 jobs were created a month this year. That would put present job growth at 13,000 below what is needed to keep pace with monthly population growth. The job growth figures for last month were 51,000 jobs added, 99,000 jobs short of the same target.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, roughly a million new jobs were created from January 2001 through January 2006. When that figure is compared to population growth, the nation is roughly 7 million jobs short.

Job growth in 2005 was up slightly when compared to population growth, but did not begin to appreciably offset the overall downturn of the previous four years. Job growth compared to population growth is down again this year.

The United States slipped into a recession in 2001, ending 10 years of growth that was the longest economic expansion in the nation's history. The economy has recovered since then, and growth has accelerated. Job growth would be expected to follow the economy's upward movement, but their numbers continue to remain well below expectations. This has been the weakest economic recovery on record in terms of job growth.

Historically, this is not a typical scenario. Job growth has always been significantly larger than population growth on average for most of the last century, with the exception of the Great Depression. If this trend continues, it could have drastic ramifications on the working class of the nation.

These distressing statistics do not seem to be reported in a coherent way in the media. Job growth figures are reported on monthly in stories related to the economy and stock prices, but are almost invariably examined as a comparison of the present month with other economic indicators. Usually these figures are cited without using population growth as a baseline.

Job growth also affects different states differently. Between the period of 2001 and 2005, 18 states reported negative job growth in the private sector. Ranked 40th of the fifty states in job growth, Missouri figures sank to -1.0 during this period. Hardest hit during this period were Michigan (-7.1), Massachusetts (-3.6) and Ohio (-3.5). Highest ranked were Nevada (19.3), Arizona (10.5) and Florida (9.6). (These figures are based on cumulative job growth percentages and do not reflect population growth.)

Although the reasons for this trend may possibly be traced to certain economic and business policies, the consensus is that there is no one definitive explanation for these job losses. "It's a pretty complex issue. It's pretty hard to fit a complex issue into a 7 second sound bite," said Jeff Daniels, Coordinator of Student Employment at a local college. "You can't really blame it on one thing."

Daniels acknowledged the significance of the negative job growth numbers as compared to population growth, as well as the fact that it is poorly reported in the news. "I'm a rabid news junkie," Daniels said. "(It's important to) have a vested interest in just knowing what's happening, and trying to piece it all together, from the national scene to local impact, and why things are the way they are right now."

Perhaps part of the reason that the media is only reporting this issue in terms of financial news is that traditionally the benchmark used to describe the state of jobs in the nation are unemployment figures. Although unemployment figures are almost invariably used to describe labor issues, they are not the only overall indicator of employment nationwide.

"The way that unemployment figures are generated is that people are taking unemployment benefits because they have just lost a job," Said Daniels, pointing out that unemployment figures are only one statistic, and do not accurately reflect the number of jobs in the country. "Once unemployment runs out, the government stops counting you."

"When listening to the news about low unemployment figures, "The average person goes, 'oh, that's good,' and that's the last they ever think of it." Said Daniels, pointing out that these figures are often not a good barometer of job growth.

There is a general perception that if unemployment figures are low, there must be plenty of jobs. When the media presents positive unemployment figures, people often assume that job growth is good.

"I Think it's great," Senior JJ Ray, when asked about job growth in the country. "But we could always use more jobs." Ray said that he felt heartened about job growth because of low unemployment figures quoted in the media, and because he read in the paper that state and local government jobs were returning.

"I thought job growth was going up," Said Senior Tim Jones, also noting unemployment figures as his source.

"I live in a small town," Said Jones, lamenting the reality of fewer jobs in his hometown. "Job growth there just isn't happening any more."

"Manufacturing jobs that had been here traditionally are leaving." Said Daniels. "Service industry jobs have helped to offset some of that." He felt that people that had formerly had manufacturing jobs are now competing with students for part-time positions for less money and fewer benefits.

Linda Macnamara, Director of Career Development at a local college agreed that manufacturing jobs are down and service industry jobs are on the rise, but points out that there are other industries that always in need of workers, such as healthcare.

"Regardless of what they say, 'job growth is up' or 'job growth is down,' employment for college graduates stays about the same." Said Linda M. Macnamara, Director of Career Development. "For people with college degrees. "It's easier for them to find employment than it is for people with high school diplomas or less."

"With a college degree it's a much better environment to be in," Agreed Daniels.

Macnamara acknowledged the under-reported job growth figures, but had optimism for the future. When talking about local college students looking for work, she pointed out that these were national figures that would not apply to specific industries in the same way.

"When you're talking about what the employment rate is, and what the job growth is, I think you have to look within specific industries," Said Macnamara. "Manufacturing is on a downhill slide, but how many of our students are going into manufacturing?"

"We place about 32 percent of our graduates in the St. Joseph community, and that's been pretty consistent over the years," Said Macnamara, pointing out that there are still many jobs for a college graduate.