High unemployment, bad! Low unemployment, also bad!

[Coventina]

Proof, as if any more was needed, that this economic "system" and its "rules" care nothing for the people represented by the statistics.

[ColinC]

1. Yep

[Casady1]

2. I defend the Fed

but in this area they really effed' up. They want employee's to be begging for work so we can keep inflation down. Starve the working class and all will be A-OK.

[W_HAMILTON]

10. The problem I also see with their actions...

...is that inflation is a global problem right now. Even taking into account how large and influential our economy is, how is raising interest rates here going to seriously put a dent into decades-high inflation that almost every similar advanced economy is currently experiencing? It seems as though they are just inflicting harm on the American people and our economy -- and for what? To try to resolve a global issue that is inevitably NOT going to be resolved by one nation alone?

[Yavin4]

19. There is one nation that can resolve it...Russia.

The war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia is the main driver for global inflation. Forcing our economy into a recession does nothing to change the situation in Ukraine.

[GoCubsGo]

3. ***Only if a Democrat is President.

Otherwise, ignore high unemployment, and ignore the fact that there is rarely, if ever low unemployment under Republicans.

[onetexan]

4. yea i've also been questioning why low employment is viewed as a bad thing

[Shipwack]

5. It's bad for business owners...

Low unemployment means workers have leverage, can demand higher wages, which means less money to give as bonuses to owners/upper management.

Mainstream Economic theory in the US (world?) dictates that things are only good if the upper class is doing good.

At least that’s my ignorant take on things.

[Johnny2X2X]

6. Fed will announce the new interest rate hike today

75 basis points is widely expected, but what is said along with that is the key. They're winding down these hikes, after today, they could say clearly it will only be 50 basis points next month and the markets are going to rise.

[Metaphorical]

7. Low Unemployment Is Poised To Become the New Normal

We are transitioning to an era when the workforce will be shrinking, lasting well into the 2050s and potentially beyond. It was there before the Pandemic, but Covid-19 also served as a clear off-ramp for many people that likely would have played out more slowly through the 2020s otherwise. This upcoming period is absolutely terrifying hyper-capitalists, because labor will become more valuable over time, while the influence of capital is diminishing. You need far less money to become competitive in the marketplace, which means that there is less value that VCs, angels, and investment banks bring to the table. This translates into what's, to them, a nightmare scenario: wealthy investors will see diminishing returns on investment while access to innovation (which is driven largely by labor) diminishes as well. This is a long-term megatrend that will likely play out over decades or even centuries, and you'll see shorter-term economic cycles where this strengthens or weakens, but the trendlines are definitely in labor's favor over the long haul.

It's also worth noting that the Republicans by and large are oriented around the economy as it looked in 1970 - petroleum-centric, automation not yet having transformed the economy, management (and sales) dominant, with unemployment "permanently" in the 6-10% area, where the barriers to entry were high. The economics are completely different, and it means that the Republican-oriented philosophies that rewarded the investor are becoming increasingly ineffective.This realization is not sitting well with the upper-income brackets.

[Coventina]

12. Thanks so much for posting this! I wish I could rec your post!

Fascinating insights.

[Johnny2X2X]

8. There's the 75 Basis Point raise

And the Markets immediately jump 1%. Must be some news leaking out about what Powell is going to say at 2:30. Probably going to talk about ending these hikes.

[BlueCheeseAgain]

9. I think the majority belief among economists is that the ideal situation...

... is a stable, growing economy with around 2% inflation and 5% unemployment.

High unemployment is obviously bad, because people are out of work. Very low unemployment is bad, because high wages cause inflation. (When I took economics, economists believed that too-low unemployment caused inflation to accelerate, in that it would cause inflation to keep rising indefinitely, not just settle in at a higher level. Not sure if that's still the prevailing belief.)

[Johnny2X2X]

11. Powell speaking

Watching on Yahoo Finance.

It's crazy, he talks about continuing to raise rates, the markets crash, just 3 minutes later he talks about the end of rate increases being in sight, moments later the markets go up hundreds of points. The markets are just so sensitive right now.

He knows he's killing the economy, but it's the only tool he has.

He should have started hikes in 2021 and we'd be past all of this by now.

[maxsolomon]

14. The Markets are always emotional.

It's not supposed to be so subjective.

[maxsolomon]

13. "Fire 1 Million!" -Zorg

[JCMach1]

15. 'real' wages bad... They don't care about employment unless

It affects this

[uponit7771]

16. THANK YOU !!! Obama had low unemployment, low gas and low inflation and the economy **STILL**

... didn't matter at that time to MAGA.

[Coventina]

17. Never mind that he rescued our entire economy from a complete meltdown.

I mean, we were inches away from October 1929, Bush had already "quietly quit" and didn't care.

Obama came in with a plan and saved everyone's ass.

But, you know, the tan suit ruined everything...

[uponit7771]

18. YEP !!