Poor Nation

We are poor people:

The United States unemployment rate has risen to 4.1%, the highest in three years, which is also significantly higher than the level seen in 2019. In June, a 70,000 increase in government jobs boosted payroll employment by 206,000. One-third of job creation is public sector jobs paid with more debt. Both the employment-to-population ratio and the labor force participation ratio are below the pre-pandemic level, and immigrants account for all the labor force growth since the pandemic, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Ned Davis Research. Inflation remains persistent and citizens have lost more than 24% of their purchasing power since 2019, with a 0.6% negative real wage growth in the January 2021–June 2024 period. Real wage growth in 2024 is rising only 0.8% year-on-year. This shows why the United States Misery Index is rising to 7.4% in June from 6.8% in January. The Misery Index, which measures unemployment and inflation, bottomed out at 6.8% in 2023 and has been worsening since then.

Misery doesn't love this kind of company...