I lived through an actual recession! People were taking unpaid internships in the hope of having an inside track at one of the few $35k/year jobs after working 3 months for free. Today there's a "WE'RE HIRING" ad on my bag of groceries because no one can find enough workers!

This. Zoomers complaining about the economy because they have to take one of the many available jobs in order to make ends meet Will turn me into the joker.

How much of this do you think is driven by people's misunderstanding of how inflation works? People don't seem to get that inflation coming down means "prices are now rising at the rate they used to" rather than "prices are now what they would have been if COVID hadn't happened"

hmmm that might be because taking those jobs, with low pay, unpredictable hours and often a requirement not to give other jobs scheduling priority, can't provide adequate income, benefits, or security to survive in most states?

In 2010, I was so desperate for work I applied for a job distributing coupons for Hot Pockets outside NBA games. I got turned down.

If you were marginalized or formerly incarcerated you were fucked. A family member of mine was cutting down trees in Craigslist because he had a record and the people that wanted to hire him offered like $8 in CA! A buddy’s dad went from selling homes to mowing lawns in the neighborhood for 4 years!

its amazing how quickly the goal posts shift from "the economy is shit" to "okay the labor market is really strong but housing affordability is a problem." Especially at me! I've been posting non-stop about the housing shortage for a fucking decade! It's my main bit! bsky.app/profile/whow...

I worked for $10 an hour at a bakery with a masters degree for a year out of school. Folks today are forgetting how grim the hiring prospects were from like 2008 - 2012.

Yeah, the problem here is that "some people are struggling" anecdotes are being used to counter all the strong data about the health of the economy, with no recognition that...some people will always be struggling! Which isn't to erase/minimize those struggles but it's a persistent tactic.

I graduated (undergrad) in December 08 and my only job was at the unemployment office.

I graduated from a very fancy law school in 2009 and I had a year of unpaid work before I got a $31k/year job.