Saturday, February 22, 2014

A Closer Look at Retail Employment

The following chart compares the growth in the number of retail production and nonsupervisory employees (in black) to the growth in the aggregate weekly hours worked by retail production and nonsupervisory employees (in blue).


Click to enlarge.

We have "successfully" transitioned to a "weaker than appears" retail employment economy. Get out the party hats.

See Also:
Sarcasm Disclaimer

Source Data:
St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart
at

4 comments:

  1. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 22, 2014 at 12:10 PM

    The chart has something for everyone.

    1. The optimists can salivate over the growth in the number of retail employees! Slow and steady progress! Nothing at all worrisome!

    2. The realists can show grave concerns over the growth in aggregate retail hours worked (well below what it was earlier in this recovery). More employees with fewer hours each is not the growth it is advertised to be.

    3. The pessimists can safely restock the bomb shelters. There are still an ample supply of retail employees willing to sell them goods. Don't wait until the zombies actually atack. It will be too late then!

    For the record, I'd like to think that, based on my age and expected lifespan from here, that I am a non-optimistic realist with just a hint of pessimism thrown in perhaps. (I never plan for best case, let's just put it that way.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. CPFebruary 22, 2014 at 3:08 PM

    Mark,

    Come check this out:
    http://www.creditbubblestocks.com/2014/02/demographics-dont-buy-airplane.html

    CP

    ReplyDelete
  3. TroyFebruary 22, 2014 at 9:38 PM

    ^ interesting, only 3-4000 of my age cohort are PP.

    Getting licensed puts you in pretty elite company.

    I see the ANG F-15 pilots punch holes in the sky when I'm out on my walks, and think why the hell didn't I go for *that* job.

    Getting paid big bucks to fly jets! Do it for 20 years and you can retire on a big fat pension!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Stagflationary MarkFebruary 22, 2014 at 11:01 PM

    CP,

    That's fascinating!

    Troy,

    I see the ANG F-15 pilots punch holes in the sky when I'm out on my walks, and think why the hell didn't I go for *that* job.

    I'm guessing that becoming an F-15 pilot was not the easiest job to get, but not as hard as becoming an astronaut of course (especially these days).

    ReplyDelete