Most Americans understand that unemployment declining is a good thing.
Yet, the folks at the Associated Press seem confused about this economic statistic as evidenced by an article published Saturday entitled "Help Wanted Ads Go Unanswered in West."
In fact, contrary to a media fixated on bashing corporations and business owners as greedy little devils, Matt Gouras' piece actually elicited sympathy for folks normally in the press' crosshairs while oddly downplaying the benefits tight labor markets typically bring employees (emphasis added throughout, h/t to an NB reader in Hawaii):
Record low unemployment across parts of the West has created tough working conditions for business owners, who in places are being forced to boost wages or be creative to fill their jobs.
[...]
Unemployment rates have been as low as 2 percent this year in places like Montana, and nearly as low in neighboring states. Economists cite such factors as an aging work force and booming tourism economies for the tight labor market.
For places like Montana, it has been a steady climb in the nearly two decades since the timber and mining industry recession. The state approached double-digit unemployment levels in the 1980s and began the slow crawl back in the early 1990s.
"This is actually the biggest economic story of our time, and we don't quite grasp it because it is 15 years in the making," said economist Larry Swanson, director of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana.
The U.S. Department of Labor reports the mountain West region - covering eight states along the Rocky Mountains - has the lowest overall unemployment rate in the nation. The region hit an all-time low of 3.4 percent in May.
Should be good news, right? Not so fast:
The effects are everywhere. Logging equipment in Idaho sits idle as companies have a tough time finding workers. A shortage of lifeguards has forced Helena to shorten hours at children-only pools. A local paper in Jackson, Wyo., has page after page of help wanted ads.
In Jackson Hole, the Four Seasons Resort still had openings in late July. The problem has created longer hours and tougher working conditions for current employees.
For years, the resort has imported dozens of workers from Eastern Europe who often come as much for the summer recreation opportunity as the money. This year, however, that wasn't enough and so for the first time the resort also sent recruiters to a high school job fair, said spokeswoman Greer Terry. It only helped a little.
"It's been a struggle finding employees this summer," Terry said.
Of course, this should be good news for workers that media outlets normally favor in such reports. Sadly, even this was presented with an obviously sour aftertaste:
"The squeeze is on. You get into these 2 percent and less unemployment rates and you're moving into a seller's market with the seller being the worker," Swanson said.
Officials worry the razor thin labor market could bind economic growth, although there has been no indication of that yet.
Amazing, wouldn't you agree? After all, this has already translated into much higher wages in the region: "Utah workers saw a 5.4 percent average wage increase in 2006."
That's good news, isn't it? Not according to Gouras: "But questions remain about how long the West can weather the problems that come with low unemployment."
The problems that come with low unemployment. Somehow I doubt such problems were being highlighted in the tail end of the '90s before the tech bubble burst.
—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.
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Comments Policy
What? The minimum
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 15:00 ET by MidAmericaWhat? The minimum wage is rising because of market forces? Is that legal?
So if this is Bush's economy shouldn't he be given credit for raising the minimum wage beyond what Congress has proposed?
You're kidding,
Sun, 08/26/2007 - 03:08 ET by lnthompYou're kidding, right?
Don't you know GWB isn't allowed to have credit for anything good that happens anywhere or any time? Plus he's required to take the blame for EVERYTHING bad that happens, ANYTIME or ANYWHERE!
Lee T.
U.S. Navy (ret.) / Vancouver, Washington
The history of the race, and each individual's experience, are thick with evidence that a truth is not hard to kill and that a lie told well is immortal.-- Mark Twain
Wait a Sec, Noel....
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 15:01 ET by BlondeDon't we have 12 million illegals to do the jobs Americans won't do?
I'm confused.
Granted, I'm blonde. But confused by the MsM's propaganda.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
Don't you know
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 18:46 ET by Scout FinchThat it's twelve million undocumented immigrants seeking sanctuary???
C'mon, get with the plan!
Sorry, Scout
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 18:54 ET by BlondeI was labouring under the idea that we didn't have enough people to fill all of the jobs we have.
Color me confused.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
Illegals
Sun, 08/26/2007 - 10:13 ET by iveseenitallHumm. Doesn't this story justify those illegals staying here? Just a thought. Remember...
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
The most interesting part in
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 15:06 ET by ckc1227The most interesting part in the piece to me was learning that a Texas telemarketing firm is able to handle the drive through of a McDonald's in Montana. That's pretty innovative if you ask me.
Spinmeisters....
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 15:11 ET by Army BratWhen you have an agenda, there is nothing that cannot be twisted to forward that agenda.
Happy Trails...
AP Understands Just Fine Mr. Sheppard
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 15:20 ET by Lame CherryThe AP understands exactly what it is writing in this being bad, because they can then dovetail this into the "evil malevolent persecution upon the poor border busters being driven out of America".
The AP plays the entire game Mr. Sheppard as they are running stories about the Oklahoma law which is booting 25,000 border busters out of that state. They are now fleeing to Kansas and Arkansas.......but Arkansas is about to run them out of there too.
That is what is behind all of this. Greedy traitor businesses sucking up border buster bucks are ticked off at loosing that free money and AP is so sad that all those Democratic voters are being driven from the land of opportunity and home of filth these Mexicans create.
I posted yesterday that my cousin works for a city and they go around and mow jungles surrounding homes as it drives down prices and is a fire hazard. A few weeks back he knocked on a door of a house he was sent to and 30 Mexicans came boiling out. None spoke English, but they loaded up in one car and fled.
My cousin said inside the entire house was vacant of furniture except for a grubby matress on the floor.
Now AP tells us this is "for the economy", but tell me Americans just how much this helps any business when these Mexicans do not even furnish a home to pump money back into a community?
A Mexican American gal I knew in San Antonio used to cuss them Mexicans non stop there. Her dad came up when he was a kid back in the old days........but she said Mexicans would buy one house and put 4 on the lot. The guys all they did was try and sex any female under age to the morgue and the Mexican mafia on the border were the worst of it. This gal told me she worked for one of their businesses as a waitress as a literal child. The owner took her to his house one day and sexed her all afternoon (to put it politely). He later ended up bloated in the desert in an inter Mexican mob war or in prison. She was telling me so much information about that cesspool down there it was difficult to keep everything straight.
This though is Grapes of Wrath sympathy story the AP is aiming at for power and bucks when the reality is it is more like the Gonzales Father of people existing about on equal with dogs that live in houses.
AP is telling the world and Mexicans that hosts of jobs are in the west so DO NOT MIGRATE INTO BLUE STATES where you are not wanted, but go to redlands of the west and be burdens to people out there.
I still maintain if Bush wants these border busters as much as all the elites want them, put the whole lot in New York City and states can bill the Feds 10,000 a head for each illegal they catch and dump them into the liberal lap of luxury.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
Gov Control
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 15:46 ET by JDWWas't minimum wage recently increased?
Remember the Community Reinvestment Act? How many of those lucky people are sleeping on the streets today?
Government control fails every time it is forced down our throats.
JDW
News media: Scoreboard for terrorists
Gov Control
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 19:38 ET by Dr_LibertyIf we allow gov control, only govs will have control.
<insert witty signature here>
Whew!
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 15:54 ET by Gary HallWhew, for a minute there, I thought one of the factors might be a "good economy."
Oh, I see why there's a labor shortage...
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 16:15 ET by SportPoliticsIt's Montana's "booming oil patch".
Bush and his oil cronies did it again.
Confused?
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 18:07 ET by ThisnThatNoel, you stated "the Associated Press seem confused about this economic statistic". Confused? We all wish it was that simple. Conniving? Trying to confuse us? Trying to spin this into a disastor (that may require a tax increase, BTW)? You bet. But AP confused? I doubt it.
Speaking of taxes, did anyone notice what the Wall Street Jounal had to say yesterday about the tax cuts hurting the rich? This is delicious: “The supply-side revenue effects on the rich are remarkable: Tax rates on higher incomes have been halved, but the federal tax share of the top 1 percent has nearly doubled. And the budget deficit has fallen. That’s what happens when tax policy gets the incentives right.”
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
If only we could import a
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 18:53 ET by Daniel BakerIf only we could import a slave class to work for low wages and live in these high rent tourist areas.
Slave Class...
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 19:27 ET by Army BratIsn''t that the practice in the Middle East? I doan think we wanna start that up here. Besides...as I recall from my years as a teenager...isn't that what teenagers are for?
Happy Trails...
Record low unemployment
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 20:11 ET by Tom1969caOkay, let me make sure I'm clear on this...
Wages going up because of government forcing evil businesses to do so = good
Wages going up because of free-market supply-and-demand = bad
Liberalism in a nutshell.
~~~
Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.
High Unemployment = Bad
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 20:37 ET by Airforce_5_OHigh Unemployment = Bad News
Low Unemployment = Bad News
The MSM is never happy.
The only thing you should feel when shooting insurgents is the rifle recoil.
AF, According to the
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 20:39 ET by BlondeAF,
According to the MsM...you know, the world sucks.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
Blonde
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 21:29 ET by Airforce_5_OEspecially if it pertains to anything conservative or Republican.
The only thing you should feel when shooting insurgents is the rifle recoil.
High Unemployment = Bad
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 22:57 ET by Jinx McHueClose. It's more like:
High Unemployment under a Republican president = Bad News
Low Unemployment under a Republican president = Bad News
Low Unemployment under a Democrat president = Good News
High Unemployment under a Democrat president = What? High what? Hey, look over there. That story is more interesting.
High Unemployment under a
Sun, 08/26/2007 - 08:16 ET by dscottHigh Unemployment under a Democrat president = Great News, another excuse to expand government programs to show they care, increased employment opportunities for bureaucrats, more vote buying opportunities and more people to convince they are victims of capitalism all of which expands the Dem base.
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. Marcus Aurelius
People having jobs! What
Sat, 08/25/2007 - 23:12 ET by zfPeople having jobs! What evil is next? People making more money?
Cross purposes
Sun, 08/26/2007 - 01:49 ET by nkviking75Do the union people who lost their jobs and spend their time whining at Democrat rallies know about these jobs?
Democrats are always whining about low paying jobs. A short supply of labor tends to force wages up. But the Dems would rather import cheap, illegal labor, which only holds wages down. Their stated goals work at cross-purposes.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
"Record low unemployment
Sun, 08/26/2007 - 02:33 ET by riff_raff"Record low unemployment across parts of the West has created tough working conditions for business owners, who in places are being forced to boost wages or be creative to fill their jobs."
It's always amusing when the liberal intellegentsia inadvertently expose their inability to grasp the whole free market, supply and demand thingy.
}}---> That cinches it
Sun, 08/26/2007 - 07:19 ET by Cool ArrowI'll take "permanent underclass" for 12 million, Alex.
~LYDSEXICS UNTIE!~
Bull shite!Work for
Mon, 08/27/2007 - 01:37 ET by 4arrowBull shite!
Work for middle class men is being taken over by women working parttime without benefits and by illegals. Kiss our society goodbye.
nothing is stopping you to
Mon, 08/27/2007 - 02:50 ET by Conservative Voicenothing is stopping you to open your own business
C.V. You are
Mon, 08/27/2007 - 03:23 ET by 4arrowC.V.
You are right.
Many folk like I and my family are better suited being lifelong, loyal emplyees.