How many years have we heard, or even said personally that folks have lost touch with the reason for the season during Christmas. All indications are that the economic downturn will not make Christmas 2020 about buying gifts so quite possibly folks will have a moment to gather with family and think about the birth of Jesus.
I initially headed down this path because I was in discussions with a friend about how many jobs have been lost in 2020, and how that percentage would compare to the number of government bureaucrats who lost their jobs. What I found was not encouraging in any way, shape, or form even though there is a faint trend brewing in the reduction of government employees.
The entire bit of data I am about to share comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics November employment report released on Dec 4, 2020. It starts with this:
“Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 245,000 in November, and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.7 percent. These improvements in the labor market reflect the continued resumption of economic activity that had been curtailed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and efforts to contain it. However, the pace of improvement in the labor market has moderated in recent months.
The number of unemployed persons, at 10.7 million, continued to trend down in November but is 4.9 million higher than in February. Among the unemployed, the number of persons on temporary layoff decreased by 441,000 in November to 2.8 million.
In November, the number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job increased by 448,000 to 7.1 million; this measure is 2.2 million higher than in February.”
Now I might interject here that the number of folks unemployed and seeking a job is high, but at the moment of penning this piece the Senate has just announced they will not break for Christmas until a COVID-19 relief package is finalized. Look, most of the employment loss is clearly due to actions of the government because they don’t think we are smart enough to protect ourselves from a virus. The numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are not quite as clear to follow for death in the U.S. in 2020 but it is very clear to me the total deaths will be about 2.9 million in 2020; no different than it was in 2019.
Now a quick look at a few professions that I find to be interesting, again from the BLS.
“Health care added 46,000 jobs in November, with gains occurring in offices of physicians (plus 21,000), home health care services (plus 13,000), and offices of other health practitioners (plus 8,000). Nursing care facilities continued to lose jobs (minus 12,000). Health care employment is 527,000 lower than in February.”
So despite the trend to increase health care workers in the past month, we have 527,000 fewer than we had before a pandemic? Okay, that makes absolutely no sense. But now for the ultimate reveal:
“Government employment declined for the third consecutive month, decreasing by 99,000 in November. A decline of 86,000 in federal government employment reflected the loss of
93,000 temporary workers who had been hired for the 2020 Census. Employment in local
government education continued to trend down (minus 21,000).”
The trend is down for the number of government employees although the loss of census workers does skew that fact. I find it interesting that a job report (assembled by a government employee) only provides the very least amount of data possible in regard to government employees. Every other profession included in this report shows how current figures compare to February 2020. The other data point left off the report is that we know the folks who actually lost jobs in the government are not the folks that are making the decisions to create hardships for working Americans. Not one elected official has had a job loss due to this economic pandemic except those that didn’t get re-elected. And, in my opinion, that’s who needs to get the pink slip.
The data that really needs to be discussed, and I will do it sometime down the road, is the real impact of COVID-19 protection losses on not the employment but rather the employer. I want to see the data on the small business owners today compared to February. The complete and utter destruction of small businesses and the families that own them will be extremely difficult to bring back. Meanwhile, all the global deliveries to your door and to supercenters on the edge of town are flourishing. Instead of clicking on your computer and filling Jeff Bezo’s coffers, why not drive to a small town and support a local artisan, craftsman or business. We need to start taking notice of all the “Made in China” labels and realize that in our quest for low prices and doorstep drop offs, we have just sold out America to the Chinese.
Editor’s note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.LoosTales.com, or email Trent at [email protected].