Why full employment doesn't mean everyone has a job

The Indicator from Planet Money

NPR

Business

4.7 • 9.5K Ratings

🗓️ 7 January 2022

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

Unemployment is at 3.9%. Is this full employment? Some Americans aren't so sure. We look at this complex situation through the eyes of someone who has been job hunting for a long time.

Transcript

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0:00.0	NPR.
0:03.6	This is the indicator from Planet Money.
0:13.8	I'm Stacey Vanick Smith.
0:15.2	And I'm Darien Woods.
0:16.5	And it is Stacey Jobs Friday.
0:20.0	It is Jobs Friday, which is one of our favorite days of every month here at the indicator.
0:26.8	That's right.
0:27.8	The first is when the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases the latest in who's getting hired in America.
0:34.6	And the number for the Sanpa is 200,000 new jobs.
0:37.1	So to be precise, 199,000.
0:40.4	Yes.
0:41.0	And that is good.
0:42.6	It's not great.
0:44.1	And it is, I would venture to say definitely not air horn territory.
0:47.8	But Darien, I feel like I'm always bringing the room down.
0:50.4	That's OK.
0:51.3	And given the pandemic's latest wave, Omacron, it is maybe understandable that hiring was not going
0:57.4	like full steam ahead.
0:58.4	That makes a lot of sense.
0:59.8	But there is one number on this report that on its face looks pretty nice.
1:05.2	The unemployment rate, according to the Bureau's latest household survey, the unemployment
1:10.5	rate is down to 3.9%, which is on the low end of things historically.
	...

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