Comments on: Full Employment http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/full_employment/ Online Journal of Politics and Foreign Affairs Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:27:15 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: cirby http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/full_employment/comment-page-1/#comment-70475 cirby Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:56:12 +0000 http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/?p=13232#comment-70475 spencer- I've looked at this sort of thing before, and sat in rooms with folks who do a lot of the analyzing, and I'm sure that they don't, with any degree of completeness. Sure, they make a few nods at including self-employed folks, but a lot of that is based on official stats based on things like incorporation and tax reporting. Since there's more and more of a trend for individual businesses that aren't documented this way, they're missing a large portion of the target population. spencer-

I've looked at this sort of thing before, and sat in rooms with folks who do a lot of the analyzing, and I'm sure that they don't, with any degree of completeness.

Sure, they make a few nods at including self-employed folks, but a lot of that is based on official stats based on things like incorporation and tax reporting. Since there's more and more of a trend for individual businesses that aren't documented this way, they're missing a large portion of the target population.

]]> By: Mr. Econotarian http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/full_employment/comment-page-1/#comment-70469 Mr. Econotarian Mon, 09 Jan 2006 20:43:29 +0000 http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/?p=13232#comment-70469 If you are looking for employment holes, it would be good to understand why black youth unemployment is so high (26.6% for black youth 18-25), despite low general unemployment. If you are looking for employment holes, it would be good to understand why black youth unemployment is so high (26.6% for black youth 18-25), despite low general unemployment.

]]> By: spencer http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/full_employment/comment-page-1/#comment-70461 spencer Mon, 09 Jan 2006 19:54:11 +0000 http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/?p=13232#comment-70461 cirby -- I think if you looked at the BLS explanations of how the various employment data are constructed you would find that the official employment data does a pretty good job of caputuring the trends you are discussing. cirby -- I think if you looked at the BLS explanations of how the various employment data are constructed you would find that the official employment data does a pretty good job of caputuring the trends you are discussing.

]]> By: cirby http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/full_employment/comment-page-1/#comment-70451 cirby Mon, 09 Jan 2006 19:24:34 +0000 http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/?p=13232#comment-70451 One thing that isn't covered by a lot of the employment stat-mangling is the increasing number of people who are self-employed, or working as contractors for other companies. For example, in the hospitality industry you have a lot of folks who work as independent contractors or freelancers. The jobs range from on-call janitors to banquet servers to high-end technical support. The money can be really, really good, but according to most of the numbers these people aren't "employed" in the normal sense. They also don't show up on many of the other categories because they're not incorporated. You also have whole industries that are based on non-"employed" staff, such as Web design or computer consulting. This also affects a certain segment of "wages," since there are folks (like me) who make a certain amount through "regular" work for a half-dozen different companies, while doing a big chunk of business as "self-employed." One thing that isn't covered by a lot of the employment stat-mangling is the increasing number of people who are self-employed, or working as contractors for other companies.

For example, in the hospitality industry you have a lot of folks who work as independent contractors or freelancers. The jobs range from on-call janitors to banquet servers to high-end technical support. The money can be really, really good, but according to most of the numbers these people aren't "employed" in the normal sense. They also don't show up on many of the other categories because they're not incorporated.

You also have whole industries that are based on non-"employed" staff, such as Web design or computer consulting.

This also affects a certain segment of "wages," since there are folks (like me) who make a certain amount through "regular" work for a half-dozen different companies, while doing a big chunk of business as "self-employed."

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