Some numbers to ponder...
Image by photologue_np shared via CC license
- Private sector jobs lost in last year's government shutdown: 120,000
- Cost of the government shutdown: $24 B
- 1 year cost of extending federal unemployment insurance (as has previously been done): $25 B
- Current proposed UI extension length: 3 Months
- Cost of 3 month extension: $6.5 B
- Percentage $6.5 B is of the overall economy: 0.0004%
- Stimulus to economy from providing insurance: $1.64 for every $1.00 spent
- Number of jobs created by temporarily lifting the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act as demanded by House Republicans in exchange for extending UI: Zero
- Number of job seekers for every job opening: Three
- Sobering reason why (from six weeks ago):
The JOLTS data are also a reminder that the current elevated unemployment rate has little to do with a skills shortage or mismatch, as unemployed workers dramatically outnumber job openings in all industries.
“In no industry does the number of job openings even come close to the number of people looking for work,” writes Gould. “This demonstrates that the main problem in the labor market is a broad-based lack of demand for workers—not, as is often claimed, available workers lacking the skills needed for the sectors with job openings.”
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