Re: rising unemployment and higher wages.

[Doug Henwood <dhenwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Devine wrote:

> you can see from the above that the unemployment rate jumped the
> most for the least elite segments of the labor force, i.e., those
> who are typically paid less (and have less job security). That fits
> with what I said.

Over the last 6 months, the ranks of the unemployed in the U.S. have
grown by about 1 million - next to 134 million employed (according to
the household survey). Retail employment has grown, as has service
employment in general (according to the establishment survey), and
they're at 24m and 86m respectively. I doubt the rise in unemployment
is enough to explain the rise in real wages.

Besides, employers would also want to lay off higher-paid workers
before lower-paid ones, no? This cuts both ways.

So I'll stick with a "dunno."

Doug