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Biden's policy "will undermine taxpayer investment in billions of dollars of forthcoming public works projects," the governors write.US economy once again falls well short of estimates, adds just 199,000 jobs in December
The U.S. economy continued to falter in December under President Joe Biden's leadership, with monthly job gains falling far below modest estimates set by economic experts.
Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by just 199,000 last month, well below Dow Jones estimates of 422,000, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The figure was down from November, when 249,000 jobs were added.
Interestingly, unemployment continued its slow downward trajectory during the month, falling to 3.9%, just slightly over its pre-pandemic low.
The disappointing numbers came alongside the emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in the U.S; however, some experts noted that the numbers were likely recorded before the variant spread significantly throughout the country.
“The new year is off to a rocky start,” Nick Bunker, economic research director at job search site Indeed, said, according to CNBC. “These less than stellar numbers were recorded before the omicron variant started to spread significantly in the United States."
"Hopefully, the current wave of the pandemic will lead to limited labor market damage," Bunker continued, adding, "The labor market is still recovering, but a more sustainable comeback is only possible in a post-pandemic environment.”
The economic downturn also appears to be the result of the country's ongoing labor shortage, as businesses that are aggressively seeking to fill vacant posts continue to encounter a lack of willing workers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier this week that there were approximately 10.6 million job vacancies in the U.S. on the last business day of November.
Michael Pearce, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics, suggested that the numbers “suggest that worker shortages were becoming a bigger restraint on employment growth, even before the Omicron surge in infections, which could knock hundreds of thousands off payrolls in January."
One silver lining to the December jobs report was that average hourly earnings rose more than expected, climbing 0.6% for the month to total 4.7% year over year. The wage growth is good news for American workers who have been hit with historic increases in inflation this year.
Another bit of good news was that job creation, though modest, was highest in the leisure and hospitality sector, adding 53,000 last month. This is a key recovery sector since it was disproportionately damaged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Other sectors that saw the most growth in December were professional and business services, which added 43,000 jobs, and manufacturing, which added 26,000.
A business owner's rant about lazy workers demanding higher pay is setting people off online
A business owner's impassioned rant encouraging new job seekers to add to their skillset before demanding higher pay and fewer hours is angering people online.
What happened?
The rant, which was allegedly posted in a job search group on Facebook, was screenshotted and uploaded to Reddit this week along with the title, "Local business owner shares this tantrum on her page in response to someone seeking employment in a job search group."
But the supposed "tantrum," appears to be nothing more than a poignant exhortation to prospective employees about what's expected of them in the job market.
In the rant, the alleged business owner responds to a job seeker looking for a position paying at least $14 an hour with weekends off by asking what they have done to improve their skills before expecting a cushier job.
"And let me guess," the business owner writes, "you want to be off every night by 5 p.m., [work] no more than 25 hours a week and you expect benefits for your entire family paid by the company!"
"Huh... No!..," she then states.
Later in the post, the business owner writes, "The times may be changing but what change have you made? What online courses have you taken? How many books have you read? What certifications have you completed? ... What the heck have you done to earn anything?"
The poster explained that even though the U.S. is currently suffering from a labor shortage, business owners should still be "picky, patient, and hire only the studs that are worth the money."
"Business owners," she said, "I encourage you not to fold for just anyone. Ask the hard questions in your interviews and be selective."
Then, turning her attention to job seekers, the business owner encouraged them to "take what's your[s] but don't take advantage."
"In order to get somewhere in life, you have to work for it," she added. "Things will not be handed to you and if you do what is easy, life will be hard. But if you do what is hard, your life will be easier!"
What was the reaction?
The screenshot of the rant was posted on the subreddit "r/antiwork," which describes itself as a forum "for those who want to end work, are curious about ending work, [or] want to get the most out of a work-free life."
As one might expect — given the perspective of this particular online community — reactions to the post were extremely negative:
- "[This] person has no clue how to run a successful business," one commenter argued.
- Another sarcastically said, "Lol I love small business owners like this. I love seeing their posts like this. Then later they'll post about how awful it is that their business failed because of amazon or some s**t. Guess you should've worked harder."
- "If they can’t pay their employees a living wage, they shouldn’t be in business in the first place, banks should really be looking [at these flaws] in their business plan before giving these failed businesses loans," one person suggested.
- "What you need to do to deserves a live wage: be alive," another agued.
- "Hiring pandemic? No, it’s a wage shortage," still another said.
Anything else?
The controversial rant comes as many business owners across the country continued to grapple with a severe labor shortage that has plagued the U.S. since the start of the pandemic but has been made worse under the Biden administration.
In November, TheBlaze reported on an Arkansas construction company owner who has been forced to pay "lazy" workers high wages even though they have "no idea" how to perform the job just to keep his business afloat.
At around the same time, the National Federation of Independent Business, a small business lobbying group, revealed that more than half of small business owners in the U.S. reported job openings that they could not fill in September, marking a 48-year record high.
Presumably, job seekers were unwilling to take the open positions due to low pay. Many business owners suspect that job seekers are content to collect federal unemployment money rather than hold down a job.
Labor shortage forcing construction company owner to pay high wages to 'lazy' workers who have 'no idea' how to do the job
A construction company owner in Arkansas is complaining that the country's ongoing labor shortage is forcing him to desperately hire workers who have "no idea" how to perform the job.
What are the details?
JD Huddleston, owner of Concrete Creations and Excavations in Centerton, Arkansas, told the Arkansas Traveler recently that it has been almost impossible to find qualified workers for his construction crews since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In order to fulfill his contracts and stay afloat, Huddleston has had to get creative by "raising wages, offering paid vacation benefits from day one, 'renting' laborers from another contractor who hires out his employees, and working on the crews himself," the outlet reported.
"It's horrible," Huddleston said. "I'm having to pay guys $18-$20 an hour that absolutely have no idea how to operate in my industry, just to get them to show up."
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, construction laborers earned an average hourly wage of $20.92, or $43,520 per year on a full-time work schedule.
The small business owner lamented that he ends up firing the majority of those new hires because they don't work hard enough on the job.
"For every eight guys that I hire, I'll almost certainly have to let go seven of them within 30 days, because they're just flat out lazy," he said.
The understaffing, Huddleston said, has really started to affect his company's bottom line.
"I'm turning down work all the time now," he noted. "Pretty good-paying jobs. Site development and stuff like that."
What else?
Huddleston is not the only small business owner struggling with the current labor shortage, which has plagued the U.S. economy since the start of the pandemic but has been exacerbated under the Biden administration.
The National Federation of Independent Business, a small business lobby group, reported that 51% of small business owners reported job openings that could not be filled in September, noting the figure marked a 48-year record high for the third straight month.
The Arkansas Traveler cited two other business owners in its story — a woman who owns a children's gymnastics facility and a man who operates several Supercuts salon franchises. Both told the outlet they have been duped by activity on their online job postings.
Several appeared to apply online but ended up leaving invalid contact information or not showing up for their interviews, the business owners noted.
They suspect applicants only wanted to prove that they were looking for jobs so that they could continue collecting unemployment.
McDonald's jacks up menu prices to survive rising wages, labor shortage, supply chain crises under Biden
McDonald's is significantly hiking menu prices this year in order to keep pace with rising wages for employees and the costs associated with America's labor shortage and supply chain crises, according to the Wall Street Journal.
What are the details?
The fast-food mega-chain said it's struggling to recruit enough employees to quickly serve customers and keep restaurants fully open, despite offering higher pay to workers.
Executives reportedly told the Journal they have raised menu prices in the U.S. by approximately 6% in 2021 in comparison to last year and plan to keep prices elevated for at least the remainder of the year.
"That's because in McDonald's U.S. restaurants, wages this year are up at least 10% as of now and supply costs for things such as food and paper are anticipated to increase 4%," the Hill reported.
The multilayered economic quandary has resulted in several other large companies, such as Coca-Cola and Kraft Heinz, raising prices.
The news came only hours after the company reported stronger-than-expected sales in the third quarter — U.S. same-store sales grew by 9.6% compared to last year, CNBC reported. The chain attributed the surprise sales growth to its menu price hikes, in addition to celebrity promotions and the release of its crispy chicken sandwich.
McDonald's told CNBC that it's using a pricing advisory service to track how much customers are willing to pay for its products.
Why does it matter?
Progressives have long argued that if companies only paid unskilled workers higher wages it would automatically benefit lower- and middle-class individuals. But conservatives, generally, have argued that companies may often respond by increasing the price of goods or services to compensate for the loss of income.
The McDonald's price hike appears to show the latter to be true in this case. Though it should be noted that other economic disruptions under the Biden administration are also putting increased pressure on U.S. companies.
The U.S. is currently grappling with rising inflation, a supply chain crisis, and a labor shortage that are disrupting many industries.
It's a problem that Republicans claim to have seen coming. In a Republican Study Committee memo issued last week, Chairman Jim Banks (R-Ind.) suggested, "By indiscriminately pumping money into the economy, Biden's spurring inflation which, in turn, is spurring the supply chain crisis."
"The rational consumer response to 5.4% annual inflation is to spend their rapidly devaluing currency, and that increases pressure on our supply chains and further increases inflation," he continued.
'No one wants to work': Florida restaurant shuts location after workforce dwindles to 4
A long-standing Florida BBQ restaurant is closing its doors after the labor shortage left the business with just four workers.
The owner of the Orlando-area restaurant, Bubbalou's Bodacious Bar-B-Que, said that "no one wants to work."
What are the details?
According to a Friday report from Insider, owner Boo McKinnon said that the Winter Park restaurant had already cut its hours before deciding to shut down.
The restaurant, which has three other locations in the Orlando area, closed its doors earlier in September.
Of the closure, McKinnon said, "After 35 amazing years, we have locked the doors on Bubbalou's Winter Park for the final time. Through those years, I have made friendships with clients that are irreplaceable. I learned more about life, tolerance, grace, dignity (and sometimes the lack thereof), and compassion in our little Lee Road Bar-B-Que shanty than you could ever imagine."
"Having spent over half my life based out of that location, I literally 'grew up' there," McKinnon added. "When we began this venture in 1986, I was still in my 20's. I was self serving, arrogant, and had a huge sense of entitlement. Let me tell you how quickly the restaurant business cured those ideals!?!? I am heartbroken, yet relieved. I am sad, but excited to grow other locations into even stronger entities."
McKinnon continued, pointing the finger at the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Damn this pandemic and the situation we were put in," the post continued. "Business has been off considerably, but the hardest part being the inability to find staff to hire. Despite paying more than any restaurant I am aware of, no one wants to work. We closed our Winter Park store with a whopping four employees. We were closed two whole days per week as well as two half days. It wasn't by design, it was simply due to the fact we have no staff and can't find any."
"Yes," the owner continued, "damn you pandemic and the political machine for making more appealing to not work than to be an active part of the workforce in our country. It's pathetic. And it has disastrous results.Thanks to a devoted few Team members, Bubbalou's is still three locations strong. Our Winter Park Team is moving to our Apopka location. Come see us in Apopka for that same degree of Bodacious Bar-B- Que, and an adult beverage in our Lucky Pig Lounge. We aren't leaving, we are just moving…see ya Winter Park!"
Anything else?
McKinnon told WKMG-TV that she opted to close the restaurant after the workforce dwindled to the point where conditions were unsustainable — and that she couldn't even get people to apply for a job.
"The Winter Park location was closed because we absolutely could not find help," she told the station in a statement on the closure. "We cannot even get people to come in and apply. It is just the most amazingly sad thing ever."
Burrito restaurant’s entire staff quits, posts a sign in window complaining about pay, hours, and being unappreciated
The entire staff of Barberitos burrito restaurant in Georgia walked away from their jobs and posted a sign in the window that cited reasons for their quitting including low pay, long hours, and a "lack of appreciation."
According to a report from Insider, the number of people working in the restaurant industry dropped in August for the first time since April 2020 — the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What are the details?
The report noted that the Barberitos location in Macon, Georgia, was forced to cut its opening hours after its entire staff quit.
Before staffers left, they shared a sign stating that they worked seven days a week for at least a month with "barely any time off," according to local reports. Employees also complained about low pay and a "lack of appreciation."
"Store is closed. Whole staff as [sic] quit do [sic] to under pay and lack of appreciation. We have worked 7 days a week for the past month and barely any time off," the sign read. "We are so sorry and love you all! [O]ld Barbs family, out," the sign read, according to a Facebook post featuring the store's exterior.
What has the company said about this?
A spokesperson for the restaurant said that the claim was "simply not true."
"Due to COVID, the labor shortage has impacted many — if not all — small businesses across the country," the spokesperson said and noted that another area restaurant "uniformly hired away six of our employees at the same time."
"While we are saddened whenever an employee leaves the Barberitos family, we understand that the marketplace has changed and thank them for their service," the spokesperson added.
The full statement is featured below:
Due to COVID, the labor shortage has impacted many – if not all – small businesses across the country. Unfortunately, a local restaurateur uniformly hired away six of our employees at the same time. While we are saddened whenever an employee leaves the Barberitos family, we understand that the marketplace has changed and thank them for their service. As for the claims of employees being forced to work seven days straight, that is simply not true. The downtown Macon location is currently open for lunch only this week, but we hope to resume normal business hours as soon as next week and look forward to welcoming all our guests back with a farm-fresh, high-quality meal that is made in-house daily.
WGXA-TV reported that the former employees' sign has since been removed. Two new signs note the store's updated hours and that it is "now hiring."
One sign reads, "Temporary hours: 11am to 3pm. Thank you, Barberitos Management."
The other says, "Now hiring! Inquire within, or visit barberitosjobs.com to apply!"
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