On Feb 4, 2007, at 11:52 PM, Eugene Coyle wrote:
Well, that's really my question "Do we really have tight labor markets?" Not in the construction trades, not in manufacturing -- just where are these labor shortages? Just in the MBA ranks? I guess mine isn't a question but rather an assertion: We don't have tight labor markets.
The unemployment rate has been below 5% for some time, and employers frequently complain about shortages of skilled labor. Construction had, until the housing bubble started leaking air, been very tight; in hot markets, builders were cruised rival construction sites, offering cash bonuses to defectors. Manufacturing is a mess, but there are a lot of other service sectors outside MBA-land. I realize it violates PEN-L orthodoxy to suggest that it's not 1928 or 1932 all over again, so I apologize for any hurt I've caused. Doug
