Nowhere Work

Hey, I'm not complaining 'cause I really need the work
But hittin' up my buddy's got me feeling like a jerk
Hundred dollar car note, five hundred rent
I get a check on Friday but it's already spent
--Huey Lewis & the News

Some interesting charts here particularly w.r.t. employment. One shows full time median weekly real earnings since 1986. Compound annual growth rate in real wages over the past 30 yrs is 0.1%.

Because inflation numbers are under-reported, median wages have actually been declining for decades.

The other interesting chart shows percentage of prime work age population holding any kind of job. Since peaking in 2000, employment has dropped ten percentage points, or about 20% from the apex.

The headline jobs numbers are misleading and manipulated. Not only are we nowhere near 'full employment,' but the long term trend is toward less, not more, work.