The booming non-labor force in the United States: Those not in the labor force surged by nearly 1,000,000. A large portion of added jobs were in low wage sectors.

MyBudget360
November 9, 2013

Any job is a good job for the headlines.  While one part of the BLS survey showed that US payrolls increased by 200,000 last month, another survey finds that nearly 1,000,000 Americans dropped out of the labor force.  That is right, a stunning 932,000 Americans simply dropped out of the labor force last month bringing our labor force participation rate to a new 35 year low.  More importantly, a large part of those200,000 added jobs were in the form of low wage retail and food sector jobs.  For the headlines anything is good news and the stock market continues to rally (even though most Americans don’t even own stocks because they are too broke once all bills are paid).  The drop in the labor force participation rate was not unforeseen but the current rate of growth is very troubling.  Of course, the Fed now “hints” at tapering but the evidence shows that the Fed is in soft default mode.  We have a boom in the non-labor force segment of our economy.

Those not in the labor force

A whopping 91.5 million Americans are not in the labor force (close to one-third of the country):

Source:  BLS

The big drop from last month of 932,000 is the largest one month drop ever recorded.  This new data plunged the employment population ratio down to a new 35 year low:

Source:  BLS

Of course, the media is merely focused on the 200,000 jobs that were added.  What about the nearly 1,000,000 drop in the labor force participation rate?  Will these people maintain their consumption power without work?  It is unlikely they are independently wealthy given retirement figures.  To the contrary, these are broke households.  This all fits in line with a record number of Americans on means-tested programs like food stamps and disability.

Low wage jobs

The US is disproportionately adding low wage jobs.  Even in the latest report, 1 out of 4 jobs were added in the very low wage (and temporary) retail and food sectors.  This is why the top occupations in the US do not pay what you think:

Out of our top jobs only one has a decent salary.  Even 50 years ago, top jobs were in blue collar work that actually paid a living wage.  Today, the jobs are coming from cashiers at Wal-Mart or food workers at Burger King.  Not exactly enough to send your kids to the expensive world of college.  Yet to escape this fate, many young Americans roll the dice withmaximum levels of student debt to give themselves a fighting chance for a job.

Also, we need to add at least 200,000 jobs per month merely to keep up with population growth.  If anything is happening, we are simply treading water but the problem on those dropping out of the labor force is that our costs are accelerating at a growing speed.  The burden of retiring baby boomers and other programs is largely falling on a young and poorer work force.  It isn’t all too clear whether this strategy will work.

Unfortunately the media is catering to this massive run in the stock market while the economy is actually not as hot as it appears.  For the next couple of months it is important to examine what jobs are being added given the very seasonal holiday season.  Early 2014 will shed some light on where things truly are.

The rate of those marginally attached to the labor force U6, the broadest measure of employment also increased last month:

This report wasn’t as strong as it is being made out to be especially when you have close to 1 million Americans dropping out of the labor force.

Is Obama Betraying Israel?

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
Mark Matheny
November 9, 2013

Is Obama betraying the Land of Beauty? Mark Matheny discusses recent developments taking place in Israel, and also how Obama is again reverting to Executive Orders as I said he would back in 2010 and 2011 in my past shows.....

Tune in!!

Popular Politics Internet Radio with Mark Matheny on BlogTalkRadio

Global Financial Meltdown

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!!
November 9, 2013

A look back to the events that lead to the financial meltdown in 2007.

Next-Generation Flash Mobs: The Breakdown of Law & Order

SHTFPlan.com
November 8, 2013

As local police departments cut personnel due to excessive spending and budgetary restrictions, cities all across America are rapidly degenerating into gang infested war zones.

In the city of Chicago, which has been one of the hardest hit during the opening stages of a greater depression sweeping the country, law enforcement officials compared the situation on the ground to the kind of tribal warfare one might see in places like Iraq. With law and order breaking down, residents of the city have been caught in the middle. The crime wave has gotten so bad, in fact, that earlier this year the Chicago PD announced a new response plan, or rather, a NON-response plan, wherein police will not even show up at crime scenes unless someone has been critically injured or the perpetrator is still on the scene.

This, of course, has been a boon for criminals looking to take advantage of the situation. And earlier this week they did just that.

Unbelievable surveillance video captured flash mobs dashing into store after store and running out with armloads and sometimes entire racks of sporting goods.

…

It’s like a next-generation flash mob. Originally, flash mob referred to a group of people doing a performance to draw attention to something in a positive way. The term gave way to a more sinister motive.

“They used to just be fun. They used to just be positive and now, I don’t know, it seems to have turned into something negative,” said one shopper.

No one was hurt in the three incidents, though it’s clear the mob stops for no one.

Some city officials in Chicago have even appealed to the state and federal government for help, recently calling for martial law to be declared and for the military to intervene.

This is the state of affairs in the U.S., and the organized crime waves are spreading.

Residents in suburbs of Oakland and Houston have been forced to hire private security teams to help maintain law and order in their neighborhoods, while millions of Americans across the country are arming up in those jurisdictions that allow firearms ownership.

Chicago, it seems, is an example of what happens when law and order breaks down and residents have no way of protecting themselves because of restrictive gun laws.

A look at the surveillance footage above shows how indiscriminately a large mob of individuals behaves. As Tess Pennington notes in her preparedness series on Flash Mobs, if you ever encounter a flash mob threat, remember who you are dealing with:

For the most part the participants of these mobs are urban delinquents whose only goal is to steal and cause violence.

The recent events in Chicago involve teens and young adults looking to steal apparel.

What happens when these groups finally realize they can get a lot more than that?

It’s only a matter of time before the contagion spreads to more serious criminal elements that will target individuals directly in the form of flash mob robberies in places like subway cars, banks, or jewelry stores. And as their efforts go unchecked by police, they will likely increase in scope and violence.

In 2011, a large flash mob targeted patrons of the Wisconsin State Fair. Witnesses report that the racially motivated mob involving hundreds of individuals was, “attacking everybody for no reason whatsoever.” Most of the victims were white.

We’ve already seen how quickly these mobs works and how violent they can be. Once it starts it can’t be stopped.

Now imagine what it will look like when these people can no longer afford to purchase basic essentials like food.

Military ‘Purge Surge’: Obama Fires Another Commander

Center for Western Journalism
November 6, 2013

Nine generals and flag officers have been relieved of duty under Obama just this year — widely viewed as an extraordinary number — and several sources put the total number of senior officers purged during the five years of the Obama administration as close to 200.

Wolves In Sheep’s Clothing: How the Public Was Duped into Socialism (But Got Totalitarianism)

Activist Post
November 9, 2013

A story of Obamacare, Fabian Socialism, 1984 and the incremental hijacking of our lives.

The Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, may be a functional nightmare, PR blunder and a deeply divisive issue, but it represents a momentous power grab for the rise of Socialism in America – which though once a haunting specter, has gradually become a reality.

Individuals in the United States have less power over their own lives than ever before – as millions of Americans are losing their coverage, and all who refuse to join the system face mounting fines and penalties. Senator Harry Reid, for one, admitted that the current health care law was moving the country towards a single payer system managed by the federal government.



The attempt to fully nationalize health care has been rightly criticized as a “Fabian” move on the part of President Obama and his cohorts. The term evokes Fabian Socialism, the influential group behind the British Labour Party and the London School of Economics who wielded the power of some the 20th Century’s most famous authors to sell not only a socialist-collectivist system, but one run on behalf of the oligarchical elite and managed by technological experts.

Read the entire article

China inflation hits eight-month high amid tightening fear

Reuters

November 8, 2013

Photo: money.CNN.com

(Reuters) - China's annual inflation climbed to an eight-month high of 3.2 percent in October as food costs soared, fanning market worries about policy tightening as factory output and investment data pointed to signs of stabilization in the economy.

Inflation, which quickened slightly from 3.1 percent in September, was still lower than a median forecast of 3.3 percent in a Reuters poll and was below the official target of 3.5 percent for 2013.

"Although the CPI inflation was mainly pushed up by seasonal food demand, it may fuel market concerns that the central bank may tighten monetary conditions," said Li Huiyong, an economist at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities in Shanghai.

The People's Bank of China refused to inject liquidity into the money markets during regular open market operations on Thursday, triggering worries it would start a new round of tightening in the next few months, traders said.

Data on Friday showed exports rebounded by more than expected in October, adding to signs the economy has found its footing as Beijing prepares its reform agenda for the next decade.

But few analysts believe the central bank will rush to tighten policy amid the lingering global uncertainties.

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