Many Who Have Left US Labor Force Are 'Open To Anything' To Return

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-many-who-have-left-us-labor-force-say-they-would-like-to-return-2014-8


A woman talks on telephone next to line of job seekers waiting to attend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. career fair in New York

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mike Yack has left the workforce twice in the last eight years and calls himself retired, yet at age 62 the former General Motors employee does not consider his working life over.
"I'd be open to anything - learning a new trade or something. I don't expect top wages. But I am not going to work for ten dollars an hour," said Yack, who accepted a buyout from GM in 2006 and was then laid off earlier this year by a GM contractor.

Yack, who says he can get by on Social Security and his GM pension, is among millions of Americans who could re-enter the U.S. labor force if the economy improves. They don’t show up in the U.S. jobless rate, currently at 6.2 percent.

For U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, the willingness of people like Yack to return to the workforce contributes to the "slack" she sees in the labor force that could keep wages growth and inflation under control even as the economy picks up. Yellen and other Fed policymakers will be studying the labor market overhang carefully as they gather for their annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-many-who-have-left-us-labor-force-say-they-would-like-to-return-2014-8#ixzz3AveULawt

[KG]

1. why do Fed policymakers need an annual retreat in Jackson Hole?

[xchrom]

3. good question. nt

[seveneyes]

4. Because we pay for their pleasure trips

They are the anointed ones.

[Sherman A1]

2. I find this comment interesting....

"For U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, the willingness of people like Yack to return to the workforce contributes to the "slack" she sees in the labor force that could keep wages growth and inflation under control even as the economy picks up. Yellen and other Fed policymakers will be studying the labor market overhang carefully as they gather for their annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming this week."

What we need in my opinion is some serious wage growth, most particularly at the lower end of the spectrum (minimum wage and those just above it) to get the economy moving. One wonders if the minimum wage had kept pace with the growth in productivity would we be seeing the situation in Ferguson, MO or would we see people who had good paying jobs, hope and the means of making life better for themselves and the next generation.

[DCBob]

5. This guy should be counting his blesssings..

Sounds like he's got a decent income.. SS + GM pension. I guess he also has free healthcare as a retired GM auto worker. Shows he not too desperate since he's not willing to work for $10 / hr.

I think this guy should just take his retirement and enjoy life and let others who are more desperate have a better chance to get a job.

[Shadowflash]

6. I know people here

That would kill for 10.00 an hour.