The Shadow Margins of Labor Market Slack

The Shadow Margins of Labor Market Slack PDF Author: R. Jason Faberman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
We use a mix of new and existing data to develop the Aggregate Hours Gap (AHG), a novel measure of labor market underutilization. Our measure differentiates individuals by detailed categories of labor market participation and uses data on their desired work hours as a measure of their potential labor supply. We show that desired hours vary widely by demographics and detailed labor force status, and that the gap between desired and actual work hours is strongly positively correlated with reported search effort. The Aggregate Hours Gap suggests a more sluggish labor market recovery since the Great Recession than either the official unemployment rate or alternative measures of labor market underutilization. Modest amounts of underutilization among the part-time employed and a substantial degree of underutilization among those out of the labor force account for the disparity. The Aggregate Hours Gap also does well in accounting for wage movements over our sample period.

The Shadow Margins of Labor Market Slack

The Shadow Margins of Labor Market Slack PDF Author: R. Jason Faberman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description
We use a mix of new and existing data to develop the Aggregate Hours Gap (AHG), a novel measure of labor market underutilization. Our measure differentiates individuals by detailed categories of labor market participation and uses data on their desired work hours as a measure of their potential labor supply. We show that desired hours vary widely by demographics and detailed labor force status, and that the gap between desired and actual work hours is strongly positively correlated with reported search effort. The Aggregate Hours Gap suggests a more sluggish labor market recovery since the Great Recession than either the official unemployment rate or alternative measures of labor market underutilization. Modest amounts of underutilization among the part-time employed and a substantial degree of underutilization among those out of the labor force account for the disparity. The Aggregate Hours Gap also does well in accounting for wage movements over our sample period.

Labor Market Slack and Monetary Policy

Labor Market Slack and Monetary Policy PDF Author: David G. Blanchflower
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Labor supply
Languages : en
Pages : 24

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the wake of a severe recession and a sluggish recovery, labor market slack cannot be gauged solely in terms of the conventional measure of the unemployment rate (that is, the number of individuals who are not working at all and actively searching for a job). Rather, assessments of the employment gap should reflect the incidence of underemployment (that is, people working part time who want a full-time job) and the extent of hidden unemployment (that is, people who are not actively searching but who would rejoin the workforce if the job market were stronger). In this paper, we examine the evolution of U.S. labor market slack and show that underemployment and hidden unemployment currently account for the bulk of the U.S. employment gap. Next, using state-level data, we find strong statistical evidence that each of these forms of labor market slack exerts significant downward pressure on nominal wages. Finally, we consider the monetary policy implications of the employment gap in light of prescriptions from Taylor-style benchmark rules.

How Much Slack Remains in the Labor Market?

How Much Slack Remains in the Labor Market? PDF Author: Marc Labonte
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Labor market
Languages : en
Pages : 4

Get Book Here

Book Description


Moving the Needle

Moving the Needle PDF Author: Katherine S. Newman
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520379101
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Get Book Here

Book Description
"Most research on poverty focuses on the damage that persistent unemployment causes for individuals, families, and neighborhoods. But what happens when jobs are plentiful and workers are hard to come by? Persistent labor shortages became the norm in 2022, but there have been a number of periods in American history where tight labor markets prevailed. Moving the Needle examines what happens when conditions favorable to workers create market pressures that boost wages at the bottom, improve benefits, pull the unemployed from the sidelines to the center of a burgeoning job market, lengthen job ladders, and dampen credentialism. Utilizing 79 years of quantitative and historical data, as well as fieldwork among employers, jobseekers, and long-time residents of poor neighborhoods, this book explores how profoundly positive tight labor markets are for labor and recommends policies that would keep that momentum moving when the conditions that spur it forward no longer hold"--

The Persistence of Slack and Tight Labor Markets

The Persistence of Slack and Tight Labor Markets PDF Author: Karl Ove Moene
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Labor market
Languages : en
Pages : 50

Get Book Here

Book Description


Estimating Labor Market Slack, U.S. 1994-2019

Estimating Labor Market Slack, U.S. 1994-2019 PDF Author: John Komlos
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book Here

Book Description
U3, the official unemployment rate, is an inadequate gauge of labor-market slack and the extent to which it misinforms varies substantially over the business cycle. The U6 unemployment rate is usually about 4 percentage points above U3. However, during the Great Recession it exceeded U3 by 7 percentage points for three years. Moreover, the U6-U3 gap is magnified among disadvantaged groups such as minorities, youth, and for the less educated. For instance, in January 2011 the U6-U3 gap among African American youth was 17.9 pps as U6 climbed to 47.5% and was similarly large among African Americans without a high-school diploma.

Additional Slack in the Economy

Additional Slack in the Economy PDF Author: Katharine Bradbury
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 24

Get Book Here

Book Description
This public policy brief examines labor force participation rates in this recession and recovery and compares them with the cyclical patterns in earlier business cycles. Measured relative to the business cycle peak in March 2001, labor force participation rates almost four years later have not recovered as much as usual, and the discrepancies are large. Among age-by-sex groups, the participation shortfall is especially pronounced at young and prime ages: Only for men and women age 55 and older has participation risen more than is usual four years after the business cycle peak. The brief examines explanations and different recovery scenarios for various groups - older workers, women, teens. Depending on the scenario, the current labor force shortfall ranges from 1.6 million to 5.1 million men and women. With 7.9 million people currently unemployed, the addition of these hypothetical participants would raise the unemployment rate by 1 to 3-plus percentage points. Current low rates of labor market participation thus potentially represent considerable slack in the U.S. labor market. This brief is based on materials presented in briefings to the President and Academic Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in March and April 2005.

Wages and Labor Market Slack

Wages and Labor Market Slack PDF Author: David G. Blanchflower
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 28

Get Book Here

Book Description


Does Slack Influence Public and Private Labor Market Interactions?

Does Slack Influence Public and Private Labor Market Interactions? PDF Author: Ana Lamo
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 27

Get Book Here

Book Description
We empirically analyze the impact of public employment and wages' shocks on private labor market outcomes by studying if policies operate differently in periods of economic slack than in normal times. We use local projection methods and focus on the Spanish and euro area aggregate cases. We find that the degree of economic slack is key to determine: (i) if public employment crowds-out private employment, and (ii) the degree and extent of public wage influence on the private sector.In addition, we find that the specific features of the economy also count. In the case of Spain, when fiscal consolidation is implemented at times of economic distress, the contractionary effects of public employment cuts appear more damaging for the economy than those of public wage cuts, while the opposite happens for the euro area as a whole. These differences are likely to be related to specific features of the labor markets in both cases.

Does Slack Influence Public and Private Labor Market Interactions?

Does Slack Influence Public and Private Labor Market Interactions? PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789289920179
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 25

Get Book Here

Book Description
We empirically analyze the impact of public employment and wages' shocks on private labor market outcomes by studying if policies operate differently in periods of economic slack than in normal times. We use local projection methods and focus on the Spanish and euro area aggregate cases. We find that the degree of economic slack is key to determine: (i) if public employment crowds-out private employment, and (ii) the degree and extent of public wage influence on the private sector. In addition, we find that the specific features of the economy also count. In the case of Spain, when fiscal consolidation is implemented at times of economic distress, the contractionary effects of public employment cuts appear more damaging for the economy than those of public wage cuts, while the opposite happens for the euro area as a whole. These differences are likely to be related to specific features of the labor markets in both cases.