Re:Wave of US labor unrest could see tens of thousands on st...
by lotsofpulp on Saturday October 02, 2021 @07:48AM
(#28727834)
> Where did all these workers go? How are they making ends meet? Did people realize what they actually value and cut back both spending and work?
Yes. Prices are set at the margin, so even if 5% or 10% of people make a move, especially the lowest paid ones, and there is no slack because the system was running at capacity before, then it will have a knock on effect because prices for those 5% to 10% go up, and that causes others to make moves, and then so on and so forth until a new steady state is reached.
Prices at the low end were also dependent on a certain amount of immigrants, illegal or otherwise.
The US has been grinding down its lowest paid workers for many decades though. I actually saw the trend start reversing almost 10 years ago for the least paid laborers, and prices have been going up long before COVID. COVID just caused the changes to accelerate.
What's weird is how did we go from full employment, but not a shortage, to a higher unemployment rate and a labor shortage, even with somewhat depressed economic activity. Where did all these workers go? How are they making ends meet? Did people realize what they actually value and cut back both spending and work?
I ask all this because this is what allows labor unrest. Labor has a lot of leverage right now because there's a shortage.