June Payrolls: Number of People with Full-Time Employment Dropped by 349,000 (shadowstats.com)

[brentspeak]

Economist John Williams' latest findings:

http://www.shadowstats.com/article/no-732-june-employment-and-unemployment-may-construction-spending

• June Payrolls (Number of Jobs, Not People with Jobs) Rose by 223,000, But Number of People with Full-Time Employment Dropped by 349,000
• June Payroll Gain of 223,000 Was Just 163,000, Net of a Downside Revision of 60,000 Jobs to Overstated May Payrolls
• Bad News—Drop in Unemployment from 5.5% to 5.3% Reflected 375,000 Unemployed Disappearing from the Labor Force, Instead of Finding Gainful Employment
• June 2015 Unemployment: 5.3% (U.3), 10.5% (U.6), 23.1% (ShadowStats)
• Revamped Construction-Spending Series, Net of Headline Inflation, Remained in Low-Level but Up-Trending Stagnation
• Weaker Residential Activity Offset Stronger Nonresidential Activity in Construction-Spending Benchmark Revisions

[daredtowork]

1. It bothers me that the economy seems to be pinned to construction

Construction by nature is a temp job.

When Yellen keeps interest rates at zero to drive construction, she ends up driving speculation in high-demand urban areas - and that creates enormous rent spikes as well as skyrocketing base property values. This is hell on the people on fixed incomes (the elderly, the disabled, the long-term unemployed left behind by the "new" economy).

I would like to see these job creation stats be keyed to permanent, stable jobs rather than construction.

[JDPriestly]

4. You are so right!

[BadgerKid]

11. IMO construction was a proxy for future growth.

But the offshoring construction trend invalidates that assumption. So I agree with you.

[Hydra]

2. I knew things were slugish

Everyone is pretending that everyone who wants a job can have one. Nope!

[spanone]

3. these republican congresses keep getting elected on their bullshit about creating jobs

which is just that....bullshit

[djean111]

5. This is why I don't "jump for joy" at the monthly jobs numbers.

How many people dropped out?
How many people got full-time jobs? With benefits?
What are the hourly wages?

Construction - my son used to make fabulous money doing fine carpentry work in multi-million dollar houses. He and his buddies worked long hours, bought tools, cars, paid mortgages, rent, supported the local economy. Then the builders started accepting bids at half-price - quick, shoddy, cover up with a coat of paint, the crews did not make much, but their bosses and the builders did, because the price of the house did not come down. Same with re-habbing. Putting in a tile floor used to take two days minimum, you should not walk on the tile, to grout, until the adhesive is dry. Now, a crew comes in cheap, lays the tile in the morning, grouts in the afternoon, is gone before anyone notices the tiles are uneven. And again, the customer pays the same. This is globalization to me. In construction.

[Marrah_G]

6. People in the real world, looking for jobs have known this all along

We are not in some economic boon. Wages are not keeping up with inflation.

[djean111]

7. I know. A real statistic would be "How many people can support themselves"

from their job. How many people work and still need Medicaid and food stamps. How many people can afford decent child care?

And that total bullshit about how most part time workers do not want full time jobs? That is not true. It is so much cheaper to hire part-timers and keep their hours low enough to avoid benefits that it is a business model now. And those low wages do not help the local economy, and the savings are not passed on.

[onethatcares]

8. I thought I was the only one

that noticed this.

I started in construction in 1969 as a laborer. Concrete used to be poured and allowed to cure for 3-7 days before the framing started
then the walls went up and were left unsheathed for 3 days so the bad wood could twist and be replaced prior to covering with plywood(kind of new at that time), then the plumbers/electricians and heat guys would do their thing. The result being less problems in the house related to nail pops, plaster problems etc. The house got itself acclimatized to what was going on and the contractors seemed to actually care about building for permanence.

Now, the concrete gets poured with an additive to kick it, the walls start the next day, the osb sheathing (junk, junk, junk) goes on the walls and 4 ply half inch plywood goes on the roofs, it gets covered with peel and stick roofing and either shingled or a metal roof put on over it. Viola, within 7 days there's a house sitting where vacant space used to be.

Two years later the flashing is leaking, the drywall is mildewing, and things just aren't as they should be. The tile work you talked about is but a small part of the scheme. Using texture on the walls covers up a myriad of defects too. I could probably go on but I'm preaching to the choir.

To top it off, the builders play the wages of what used to be "carpenters" against the wages of newbies that shouldn't even call themselves that.

[djean111]

9. Oh, no, you are not the only one.

You have just described most new construction here in Florida. The houses did not get cheaper, the builders got more wealthy, and the workers, in my area, live 5 and 6 to a trailer; their wages don't buy them much locally.

Funny, paying workers good wages was actually the real trickle-down. It worked. Workers bought tools, cars, ate in restaurants, the local economy thrived. When the top - the builders, in this case, save money by doing things quicker, faster, cheaper, more shoddy - they keep the profit, the lower-paid workers just subsist. I have been told of upscale subdivisions where part of the cleaning crews' job was to clean excrement out of the fancy bath tubs in mini-mansions - because the builder did not want to rent enough porta-potties, and workers were having to work faster and faster. Yeah, nails popping, etc. And try and get that stuff fixed a couple of years later.

My son still has pictures of the incredibly and perfectly constructed detail carpentry he did in homes in Apollo Beach and Hyde Park, and the upscale new development he and his friends were so proud of building. Those days, and the quality of the houses, are gone.

[onethatcares]

10. I'm in west central (st pete)

and just watched as a 12 unit set of townhouses went from slab to roofed in 14 days. The vinyl siding is going on as I type this. The roofs are already done.

I have additions and remodeling jobs I did 25 years ago and the people are still happy to see me should I stop by. The feeling of satisfaction is immense.

30 years ago the trades here were making good money for the time until ronniereagan screwed the pooch.