re: Comparing the unemployment rates of the US and the EU

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I cannot imagine how people can literally go years and years just lounging around, literally doing nothing with their lives.

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Drugs and alcohol baw

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Drugs and alcohol baw

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And overregulation

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These regulations were most severe in the market for labor, but apply to other markets as well, as in the case of housing restrictions or even the selling of medicine. Unfortunately, an overregulated labor market is nothing new in Europe, and calls for even more regulation have grown louder since the Coronavirus pandemic began almost two years ago.

To put things into perspective, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) generates an index that illustrates the extent to which each country’s labor market is restricted. The general pattern shows that non-English speaking members of the OECD are far more regulated than their English-speaking counterparts, like the United States, Great Britain, and Canada. Countries like Spain, France, and Italy have greater Employment Protection Legislation (EPL) that constrains employers from hiring and firing workers.

As a result, Spain has what is called a dual labor market (duality) in which workers are hired on either fixed-term, temporary contracts, or regular, open-ended contracts. The wide gap between these two types of labor markets mostly impacts immigrants and young, unskilled workers, since they are most likely to work on temporary contracts.

To illustrate, over 24 percent of the Spanish work force is employed on temporary work contracts, much higher relative to other OECD countries. Similarly, each month in Spain, 90 percent of hires are on temporary work contracts. These figures help explain the high unemployment rates observed in Spain over the past three decades—averaging 17.3 percent compared to 7.6 percent for EU-8 countries and 5.2 percent for the U.S.

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LINK

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Correct which doesnt show real unemployment. Real unemployment is most likely over 50% in the native villages, but the official stats look much lower. Its because most of the people there don't look for, nor want to work.

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The current labor participation rate is 62.5%.
Lot of people retiring early. My suspicion is that the amount of inherited wealth has risen drastically in recent years.

I don’t think the BLS fabricates labor numbers for political reasons. My job is closely tied to following BLS data over the year.

There’s a lot of people who claim as much as 50% of the jobs currently in existence will be gone within 10 years.

That doesn’t account for the amount of people just not looking for jobs (US & EU)

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Average US unemployment rate is 3.5%.

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Fake numbers. The only administration that ever reported the true number was the Trump administration. Every other president reported fake numbers to make themselves look better.

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Work is not a good source of fulfillment for me,

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Same.

I take pride in my work, but it sure as hell isn't my identity. When people ask me "what do you do" I usually tell them my hobbies.

I work until its not fun, then move on. Yeah, I sacrifice a lot of upper income, but I also keep life fresh and a lot more interesting than selling my soul for a career.

The job I have used to be a very visible (still is to an extent) and respected position. Its falling apart now, but thats why I am back here for the transitions. I'm probably making a minimal difference, but I kind of enjoy it.

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SlowFlowPro
Stanford Fan
Simple Solutions to Complex Probs
Member since Jan 2004
400412 posts
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I have made choices to not work like an insane person

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Only to post like one….

How are each calculated? The way we do it is complete bullshite

UE rate should be calculated based on people age 18-65 and simply whether they are employed or not. Labor force participation should only exclude retirees and people with severe disability. If you just choose not to work you’re still unemployed