A record 4.3 million Americans quit their job in August. Is a global economic catastrophe incoming?

submitted by casparvoneverecBig tiddy respecter from (self.debatealtright)

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[–]ActuallyNot 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

There's 7.7 million unemployed in the US, so 4.3 million unemployable doesn't imply insufficient labour.

And insufficient labour in the US doesn't imply a global economic catastrophe. It just implies that employers in the US will have to compete with each other a bit, raising wages.

[–]TheJamesRocket 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

There's 7.7 million unemployed in the US, so 4.3 million unemployable doesn't imply insufficient labour.

The official unemployment number in the U.S. is 8.4 million (or 4.8%). The true unemployment number is 14.3 million (or 8.1%).

Anyways, looking at numbers alone doesn't always tell you the whole story. All workers specialize in certain fields, and they can't be treated as interchangeable. For instance, there might be 1 million jobs available in the labour market, but only 200,000 labourers who are looking for work. You might also have the reverse situation, where there are 200,000 jobs available in the service sector, but 1 million workers who can't find employment.

And insufficient labour in the US doesn't imply a global economic catastrophe.

If there aren't enough workers to unload supplys off the ships at the ports, if there aren't enough truck drivers to move the supplys from the ports to the citys, then there will be a supply shortage. Plain and simple.