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Of course, for some, the good times are right now: "According to a study from Northeastern University's Center for Labor Studies, unemployment for those in the top income decile-individuals earning more than $150,000 a year-was 3% in the fourth quarter of 2009. That compares with unemployment of 31% for the bottom 10% of income, and unemployment of 9% for the middle decile. The differing rates of underemployment-including those working part-time for economic reasons-are also notable. Underemployment for the top 10% was 1.6%, while the bottom was 21%. In other words, the top 10% is experiencing what economists would consider full employment."
I doesn't surprise me that people making over $150k have jobs–to make that much in the first place, you have to have skills that are a) in demand and b) on the whole rarer. And those tend to be skills that make other people money, so even a laid-off unethical derivatives trader can quickly find a job, even in a bad economy.
The other thing is in the unemployment models themselves: if a rich person loses her jobs, she doesn't necessarily need to be out there looking. She can wait out the recession. And thus she's not counted in the unemployment rate.
I disagree. It does not require any skills to make $150K.
Cool! I'm asking for a raise.
Also, unemployment surveys would count her as "marginally attached to the workforce," I would wager, if she was formerly employed but then chooses to wait to look until afterward, meaning she's still counted in the unemployment numbers.
Hmmm, employment and income appear to be correlated. I should get a job and/or some money.
Losing your job means a change of income. It's hardly surprising that higher household income brackets report high levels of employment considering that the loss of employment is likely to see you fall out of that income bracket.
If you're going to try and work out how income levels effect unemployment the very first thing you've got to do is control for the effect employment has on income levels. The authors make no effort to even to do this whatsoever.
Shit, why even bother studying this? People with a higher demand for their labour have an easier time finding and keeping a job than those with a lower deamnd for their labour. Who doesn't know that? fuck this study