Junk Jobs

Photo Credit: Wonderlane

As we approach the 2012 election, we’re going to be hearing a lot about job creation, job growth, and jobs in general. Most of the time, these job reports come in numbers and percentages. The number of jobs gained in a month, or the overall unemployment percentage in the country, etc. While useful signals for some macroeconomic trends of the U.S. economy, I don’t think these numbers explain anything beyond basic baseline trends. I’d argue that the lack of granularity also makes it hard to determine causal factors for job creation. NPR’s Planet Money had a great podcast about how difficult it is to attribute job claims to their proper “creator.”

However, more important than the actual number of jobs lost or gained, is the value of the jobs our economy is producing. For example, let’s say that tomorrow the unemployment rate went to zero. Everyone had a job, fantastic! But it then turned out that 40 million of those jobs went towards digging ditches; getting paid minimum wage to use a shovel. While better than having all those people out of work, if you ask yourself deep down, it’s probably not much better.

The land of opportunity doesn’t have much to give if everyone’s flipping burgers.

There should be some more meaningful indicators out there to help make more sense out of the economy. Here are some metrics that could provide a better glimpse of the country’s job market:

• Average and Median Compensation - Both for lost jobs in jobless claims and new jobs gained. Is the workforce better off than they were a year ago? Are we creating jobs that turn into careers, or unskilled jobs with no future growth opportunities?
• Average Job and Unemployment Duration - If all the jobs in a monthly report only lasted for 6 months, it wouldn't instill confidence. Similarly, a lot of turnover is not necessarily bad if more jobs are right around the corner.
• Industry Specific Numbers - The most I’ve heard the pundits talk about is public vs. private sector jobs. Let’s talk about industries, is the retail industry growing, is there enough investment in bio-tech? The country’s job landscape should be diversified like any investment portfolio. Paying attention to industry diversity could have predicted our vulnerability to the financial services sector back in 2007.
• Job Type Specific Numbers - What’s the makeup of the jobs in our country? Are most people in administration or manufacturing? In college we had an outgoing senior survey to see where people ended up after school. This helps promote the school’s reputation, in terms of future opportunities for students, industry trends, and where the school can improve. The same should be done for the country as a whole. For example, if the number of teachers is dwindling, maybe it’s time to invest in education.

Maybe all of this sounds simple and already exists (I hope so), but all I ever hear about are the number of jobs created in a given month, and that’s not too helpful. There may be some industry reports out there, but most are behind a hefty pay wall. It’s time to take a cold, hard look at the American jobs market and evaluate where we’re winning, and where we’re hurting.