The New York Times Pushes Another Phony Labor Shortage – IOTW Report

The New York Times Pushes Another Phony Labor Shortage

Breitbart:

Another day, another phony labor shortage.

The New York Times on Sunday published an article with the startling headline: “Lack of Workers, Not Work, Weighs on Utah’s Economy.”

“After eight years of steady growth, the main economic concern in Utah and a growing number of other states is no longer a lack of jobs, but a lack of workers,” the Times reports.

The story goes on to report a number of anecdotes about alleged labor shortages. One construction company, for instance, claims it has raised its starting wage by 10 percent to $17.50 an hour but has been unable to attract sufficient workers.

But data is not the plural of anecdote. And the actual data don’t support the idea of a labor shortage.  read more

6 Comments on The New York Times Pushes Another Phony Labor Shortage

  1. There is an acute shortage of workers willing to work for third-world wages. The construction industry has become addicted to third work labor and doesn’t much want to pay for anything else.

  2. Utah is not an accurate gauge of national economic trends.
    Employers in the State of Utah have always undervalued their employees. The State markets itself as a place with a highly educated workforce that is willing to work at significantly reduced wages. Our productivity rates usually lead the nation. That may sound nice, but it is not necessarily something to crow about.

    Thirty-five years ago, data entry workers here were paid the Federal minimum wage of $3.35/hr while data entry positions in the Midwest were getting better than $10/hour.

    It is still difficult for a college graduate to earn significantly more than an unskilled/uneducated worker. That is the effect of diploma inflation, stagnant middle-class income, a ridiculously high minimum wage, and a general reluctance to migrate to better wages (though college graduates are still Utah’s largest export).

    The article references construction. Ironically, while Hispanics dominate in construction in Utah, they will rarely accept work that pays much less than the industry standard, regionally. They are much more likely to migrate to better wages or do something else until the market improves.

    The rise of calling center work in the state also bleeds off unskilled workers who can make almost as much money in much better conditions.

  3. @The Deplorable TWP May 23, 2017 at 1:54 pm

    > There is an acute shortage of workers willing to work for third-world wages.

    There are billions of them! You’re just not looking in the right places. Yet.

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