An Analysis of Different Articles Concerning Employment and Wages

Employment and Wages
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Employment and Wages
The articles Why American unemployment is so low, Employment down, productivity up, and Britain’s unemployment is ultra-low, but its wages are ultra-measly present different views that are united by a single factor which is unemployment. In the article Why American unemployment is so low, the author shows why and how the unemployment rate in the United States is as low as it is. As indicated in the article, the unemployment rate appears to be at 3.7%, and while this is supported by the surging economy, there are also other factors which have helped to maintain it at this level including the simple fact that some people stopped looking for jobs out of frustration. In Employment down, productivity up, the author is trying to ask a question which experts have had numerous debates about: does higher minimum wage lead to increased productivity? Well, in this article, there is no conclusive report because higher minimum wage appears to influence productivity differently, but one agreeable fact is that it helps to lower employment. In some instances, however, it does lead to an increase in productivity, but its effect on employment levels is not clearly defined as is with productivity. In the last article, Britain’s unemployment is ultra-low, but its wages are ultra-measly seeks to explain how Britain’s economy has managed to show strength and growth continually but has failed to translate to pay raises for employees. There are several things that seem to arise from these three articles. The first one is that low unemployment rates do not necessarily mean that people have jobs or poverty levels are down. Secondly, low unemployment rates do not mean that people are enjoying high salaries. Thirdly, higher minimum wages do not necessarily mean that employment levels will universally go down or that people’s productivity will increase. This article thus seeks to give an in-depth analysis of the above articles with the focus being on the issues raised above.
From the articles, one gathers that there being low unemployment levels does not necessarily translate to people having jobs and families living above the poverty line. First of all, as the article Why American unemployment is so low reveals, low unemployment levels could mean that people are frustrated to a point where they are not looking for jobs. In the U.S., people lost jobs during the 2007/2008 financial crisis. There were a lot of frustrations at this point and jobs were scarce. People thus stopped looking for jobs, and this meant that they were not counted as eligible for the labor market. This confirms the notion that low unemployment levels do not translate to more jobs being produced even though this is not the case in the U.S. where job creation has been happening consistently for years. In Britain, job creation has also been high, and people have jobs in large numbers. However, this does not mean that people can adequately cater to their needs. As indicated in the article Britain’s unemployment is ultra-low, but its wages are ultra-measly, growth in the British economy has not translated to high wages. It should be expected that when the economy grows, people will en...