Doug writes:
>Some quick number play shows that for the last 2 years employment growth in
>eating & drinking establishments has lagged the national average, while
>earnings and hours have run ahead of the average - a reversal of the trends
>of the previous decades. If E&D jobs had grown at the same premium over
>general employment growth that it did from 1990-96, there would have been
>269,000 more jobs in Feb 98. Still, over the period, E&D employment grew by
>252,000.
>
>The lengthening in hours with the rise in wages is interesting - are
>employers trying to retain more expensive employees rather than discarding
>them?
It makes sense to me. The higher minimum wage may have induced the E&D
bosses to treat their employees more as assets and less as interchangeable
parts, trying to take advantage of the productivity-enhancing effect of
higher wages. It would be interesting to see a deeper analysis of this.
in pen-l solidarity,
Jim Devine [EMAIL PROTECTED] &
http://clawww.lmu.edu/Departments/ECON/jdevine.html
"he who is unable to live in society or has no need, because he is
sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god." -- Aristotle
