Store Closures around America, and other leading Countries have been impacted by major Manufacturers close down. A very large percentage of the US employment is in retail. This is generally not a high paying job. In fact, many are making minimum wage. Many work 2 or 3 of these jobs to make ends meet. If a big retailer like Sears shuts down, directly, the employees lose their jobs, but indirectly less people are going to shop in that mall, the employees won't be there to go and shop around, or go to the food court on lunch, etc. The neighborhood will be affected as well which is an important factor is purchasing real estate. Jobs move away, real estate values goes down, some people leave, some people have less disposable income, but I get it.....our economy is "stable"
Retail store closings aren't a very good indicator of economic health IMO. Closings are a result of the shift to online retail, not lack of retail sales. Yes, when a local store closes that hurts the local businesses but those "discretionary dollars" just get spent elsewhere. One business gets hurt, another gets a boost. AMZN now employs more than 600,000 employees. Sears, K-mart, etc... lose employees & AMZN gains employees. Less retail jobs & more packing/shipping jobs. AMZN created a large business (AWS) as a result of their online retail business. More jobs. Looking at manufacturing jobs, that's been slowly increasing in the US since 2010 but a long ways to go to get back to highs. That's what Trump is trying to do now with new trade deals, tariffs, etc... Those are the better jobs but tough to compete against lower wage countries.
Very Good Points. How can I find more of these Statistics, so I can better prepare and analyze the macroeconomic details that run the economy? Any websites, recommendations would be alot of useful help.
I use quite a few websites as it seems some are good for some things but not others so no 1 site in particular. Do a quick google search for the topic you want to review & check out what you like to see. I do quite a bit on the grains so have quite a list just for grains alone that I read every day.
I remember in 2008-2009, hearing retail analyst Davidovitz talk about just how over-retailed the USA was compared to other top economies in terms of sf/consumer. It is still very over-retailed. I can save a lot of time ordering online and having it delivered to my home. So I personally shop a lot less at retail stores than I did before the internet.
Methinks current store closures are not a function of manufacturers but of large retailers like Walmart and online such as Amazon, both of which heavily automate as much as possible. And it is a myth but heroic sounding stories that some low wage workers work 2-3 jobs. 8 hours on the job at $15 an hour gets one $37k per annum. That is assuming a 48-hour workweek. Please tell me who goes to work at another job after an already 8-hour shift. The 37k is gross income before any expenses and taxes. The problem is not with too few work hours, it is with low education and skill set that only commands 15/hour. All this is before AI even will fully kick in and displace another 20-40% of the current entire workforce.
Agree, way too much retail and way too bloated service industry. It is because people are lazy as shit and each penny they have in their pocket burns holes into it. Even middle-class Joes feel the need to have their lawns mowed by outsiders, just so that Joe can sit his fat ass for another 2 hours each week in front of the TV or slam that extra 1500 calories down his throat at the local BW3. People feel incredibly entitled and display an attitude that many jobs are below them. We are talking about some 40-60k middle-class fucks. No wonder there is a huge service industry that picks up that slack. I call it privatized socialism. In effect, many Americans live the socialist way more than anyone in China or Russia. Make a meager middle-income salary, save little, spend it all on value-added services they could easily do themselves which in turn feeds another middle-class schmuck who tries to make ends meet by mowing the lawns in the neighborhoods. A lot of Americans would save an incredible amount of money if they cut down on all the services they grew accustomed to pay for and instead did those jobs themselves.
I agree that many people do not save enough for retirement. Madison Ave. has done a great sales job of stimulating over-consumption. How many high schools or colleges teach personal financial management and budgeting? IMO it should be mandatory. There is a retirement and pension crisis coming... For some, it is already here.