As Twain said, there are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics. First, lots of countries are showing negative changes in employments, not just the US. Second, the unemployment rate is a measure of how many people looking for work can't find it, not the total number of people out of work. A rising unemployment rate either means less jobs or perhaps more optimism meaning people are re-entering the job search only to discover there's no jobs. Third, AI is here and it's already laying people off. I don't know if economists have invented it yet but a new measure needs to be created. A cafe that's fully automated with AI running things and robots preparing your orders means 3 or 4 people without jobs but that cafe is still contributing to the economy just as much. This is unprecedented so how does this affect employment rates? Is the economy booming but just needs less people to do so?
As Twain said, there are lies, damned lies and then there are statistics.
ReplyDeleteFirst, lots of countries are showing negative changes in employments, not just the US.
Second, the unemployment rate is a measure of how many people looking for work can't find it, not the total number of people out of work. A rising unemployment rate either means less jobs or perhaps more optimism meaning people are re-entering the job search only to discover there's no jobs.
Third, AI is here and it's already laying people off. I don't know if economists have invented it yet but a new measure needs to be created. A cafe that's fully automated with AI running things and robots preparing your orders means 3 or 4 people without jobs but that cafe is still contributing to the economy just as much. This is unprecedented so how does this affect employment rates? Is the economy booming but just needs less people to do so?