20 Years of Employment Gains Have Vanished

Let’s explore a couple of Tweets with possible answers.

Unwind 20 Years of Job Creation

Bloomberg estimates an unemployment rate of 20%. 

Based on 30 million recent claims, I estimated an unemployment rate of 21%.

Initial Unemployment Claims 

For details please see Upcoming Jobs Report: What Will the Unemployment Rate Be?

If we subtract 30 million jobs as I did in the lead chart, the employment level would be the similar to that in 1997. 

Bloomberg estimates 1999. 

Five Caveats

  1. Just because people filed and unemployment claim does not mean they qualify according to BLS Household Survey guidelines.
  2. The reverse also holds true. People may qualify for unemployment without filing. Gig workers in particular fall into this category.
  3. Household Survey uncertainties: See The BLS FAQ on the Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic on the Employment Situation for March 2020
  4. In the Household Survey if you work as little as 1 hour you are not unemployed.
  5. The Covid-19 Relief Act may impact claims but not the survey.

An employment level somewhere between 1997 and 2000 is a likely range.

My numbers are for the Employment Level (from the household survey), not the Nonfarm Jobs total which is the establishment survey.

Deflation Coming – Blame the Fed

The decline in employment is a very deflationary event from both a price standpoint and a credit destruction standpoint.

For discussion, please see The Problem is Not Deflation, It’s Attempts to Prevent It

Mish

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Kristen45
Kristen45
3 years ago

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stephanbraun
3 years ago

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GoodTimes32
GoodTimes32
3 years ago

We’re working with numerous small businesses that have applied for the SBA loans, but many have not received anything. For true small businesses, this makes it even more challenging to keep their employees on the payroll. Tangible support needs to be there for small businesses.. (not just support for medium to large businesses) after all, small businesses make up nearly 50% of our GDP. link to businessconsultingcharlotte.com

NY Geezer
NY Geezer
3 years ago

Contrary to the message “we are all in this together”, we are not. The message is as much a lie as “weapons of mass destruction” in Iraq.
The actions of government show that a lifeboat is now essential to our survival but it is much too small for all of us. Therefore. survival must be prioritized. A government that prioritizes jobs, workers and the businesses that employ them acts differently than one that prioritizes banks, finance, landlords, bondholders etc. Guess what our government’s survivor priority is.

Casual_Observer
Casual_Observer
3 years ago

Maybe this is the end of the true secular bear market that started in 2001. It is typically characterized by major deflation and a return to below normal valuation.

get
get
3 years ago

Mish,

Steve Blumenthal is suggesting deflation first and followed by inflation which is what I expect as well. I also think we could see deflation in some areas and inflation in others. Car or real estate prices will fall while (some) food categories inflate.

How does this fit with your outlook?

tokidoki
tokidoki
3 years ago

So you telling me, the stock market will go up to 400K and beyond?

anoop
anoop
3 years ago
Reply to  tokidoki

Where did you get 400k? It’s 401k!

tokidoki
tokidoki
3 years ago
Reply to  anoop

My apologies, my model could only spit out one number.

numike
numike
3 years ago

The coronavirus has mutated and appears to be more contagious now, new study finds link to cnbc.com

El_Ted0
El_Ted0
3 years ago

These numbers won’t even include the phantom-unemployed, getting paid via PPP ‘loans’, but not legally able to actually work.

anoop
anoop
3 years ago

Does anyone care about employment numbers or the economy? The most important thing is — how is the stock market doing? The S&500 is showing a roughly 300% gain since its March 2009 lows.

sunny129
sunny129
3 years ago
Reply to  anoop

The story will be different going forward. That mirage built on NOTHING but the debt on debt is going to fade away slowly with a lot bull traps along the way!
Why does one buy stocks? For earnings/growth!
Where are they going to come from from post corona world, with demand crush and supply shock. Fed of course will keep on pushing on the string!

anoop
anoop
3 years ago
Reply to  sunny129

They will come from multiple expansion because TINA, backed by the full faith and credit of the fed.

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