SOME recovery this is. If it continues at this pace, we’ll all need a recovery from the recovery.
It seems the private sector added 139,000 jobs back in February, not the 160,000 jobs that forecasters had expected. Those in the dismal science say the bad weather of the last several weeks kept hiring down. Which makes sense. But how much of a brake is Obamacare proving as it slowly takes hold, like a mold growing in the kitchen?
Not only is the new health-care law supposed to cost the equivalent of millions of jobs in the coming years, but this president and his congressional floor leaders want to pile a hike in the minimum wage on top of it all. No wonder businesses aren’t hiring as many people as had been expected. Would you?
Back on March 5th, it was announced that RadioShack is shutting down a fifth of its stores-more than 1,000 of them. The day before, the paper reported that consumer spending was up-but only because Americans were paying through the nose for heating fuel and other forms of energy. Spending on cars and clothes dropped.
These stories also appeared in the last few weeks:
-The latest figures shows that the U.S. economy grew at a crawl, 2.4 percent, in the fourth quarter of last year.
-Acxiom Corp. is laying off 215 employees, including folks in Arkansas.
-A plant that makes oral hygiene products in Batesville will close in May, throwing 78 people out of work in north-central Arkansas.
-CNN reports that the latest budget for the Defense Department means commissaries will be offering fewer discounts to military personnel, costing military families an average of $3,000 more a year in groceries. We know some families in Jacksonville that didn’t welcome the news.
The news hasn’t been all bad in the business section these days. There have been some bright spots, like Peco’s announcing a new $165-million poultry operation in Northeast Arkansas just this week. And, lest we forget, before Tsar Vladimir annexed Crimea (and threatened the rest of Ukraine), the stock market was doing just swell. Not that the economy is synonymous with the big board.
And then there’s this: If you work in the Little Rock School District, you should soon get a 3 percent across-the board raise. That’s on top of the 3 percent step increase most teachers and support staff expect. (A step increase is an automatic raise based on time in service and little else. Just seniority.) Yes, a mediator has come out in favor of giving employees in Little Rock’s school district a 6-percent raise, which he called “reasonable.” He’s being modest. It’s more than reasonable. Some folks might think it outrageous. At least if they work in the private sector and haven’t seen a raise in years. If they’re lucky enough to still be in the private sector-and not at the unemployment office.
THE UNION that represents teachers and support staff in Little Rock wanted even more-a 4.5-percent pay increase on top of those step increases. The school district responded by offering only a 1.5 percent raise. So the mediator, well, mediated.
The mediator said he wanted to strike a balance between what the district offered and what the union representatives wanted. And he did. His compromise was right down the middle. Except that it didn’t take into account one other party to this transaction: the public. That is, those who are going to have to pay the bill. They don’t seem to have been represented in these talks. (Are they ever?)
But don’t worry about all that, Much Abused Taxpayer. It’s only government money. Nobody really pays it. Until you pay your taxes, that is. But don’t noise that about. Lest folks in the public sector think they should have to ride out this non-recovery with the rest of us.
And that’s just crazy talk.
Editorial, Pages 16 on 03/12/2014