Many economists have been working diligently to allay the fears of people unnerved by the most recent employment report, which indicated that the nation added just thirty eight thousand net new jobs. For instance, economists have been pointing out that other data remain more upbeat, and though the outlook is not especially rosy, it’s not terrible either.
Writer Justin Wolfers indicates that the nation doesn’t need to add as many jobs as it once did. He notes that there was a time when the working age population was expanding so rapidly that if the underlying rate of monthly job growth slipped to let’s say one hundred thousand, that would not only be disappointing, but also would be consistent with rising unemployment.
But with growing numbers of Baby Boomers entering retirement, the number of new jobs the economy requires to keep pace with population has fallen sharply. A reasonable estimate is that the economy needs to produce somewhere between seventy thousand and ninety thousand jobs a month.
The council of economic advisers’ estimate is seventy seven thousand. Though the nation didn’t add that many positions in May, if one averages in prior months, the nation has been adding enough jobs to keep up with population growth.
