> This is exactly the scenario I was describing - this is not a sign of a cooling economy with rising unemployment or underemployment
It could be. What if B is outcompeting because they have offshored labor, or using new technology that reduces demands for labor. Not that those things are necessarily bad, but just because the total productivity is increasing doesn't necessarily mean everyone is better off.
My point is that the situation described can happen without a change to the average income, and average income isn't a good metric for watching changes in wealth inequality.
> but it's very much not what unemployment is meant to be tracking.
I never said it was.
> Tons of such metrics are frequently discussed. Things like ratio of CEO to employee pay and income percentages are given all the time
IME, such things are talked about much less than unemployment, especially in relation to politics and policy.
And I think part of the reason for that is because it is easy to understand, and it is easier to control with policy than other metrics, since the government can just create new jobs and provide incentives to create jobs, even if those jobs are lower paid than the jobs that were lost.
It could be. What if B is outcompeting because they have offshored labor, or using new technology that reduces demands for labor. Not that those things are necessarily bad, but just because the total productivity is increasing doesn't necessarily mean everyone is better off.
My point is that the situation described can happen without a change to the average income, and average income isn't a good metric for watching changes in wealth inequality.
> but it's very much not what unemployment is meant to be tracking.
I never said it was.
> Tons of such metrics are frequently discussed. Things like ratio of CEO to employee pay and income percentages are given all the time
IME, such things are talked about much less than unemployment, especially in relation to politics and policy.
And I think part of the reason for that is because it is easy to understand, and it is easier to control with policy than other metrics, since the government can just create new jobs and provide incentives to create jobs, even if those jobs are lower paid than the jobs that were lost.