May 4, 2018 9:54 AM
HomeMorning ReadsMid-Morning Reads for Friday, May 4th, 2018

Mid-Morning Reads for Friday, May 4th, 2018

By  Morning Reads  27 Comments

May the Fourth be with you!

About Author

Theresa Garcia Robertson

Wife. Mama. Foodie. Political Junkie. Southern Enthusiast. Taco Lover.

27 Comments
  1. Ellynn

    Job rates is great. What concerns me is the slow rate of wage increase (only 2.4%) and the luck of qualified and skilled labor. Companies don’t want to pay folks more, since this raises their costs for their share of SSI, unemployment funds, 401(k) matches, ect. Most are giving out bonuses, or other benefits that can be written off in their taxes.

    https://www.axios.com/us-economy-adds-313000-jobs-in-february-1525436151-e0c17812-218c-44e1-936f-6336367fc99a.html

    Additionally, the same jobs release shows 62 % of the population is working. In general that’s a good number. The pool of qualified people for some skills are shrinking. In the past this number has been sublimated with immigrant workers. As the limit of work visas across the board and the number of new potential citizens is being lowered, How will business addressed this?

    https://www.axios.com/steve-mnuchin-skilled-labor-jobs-workforce-automation-8e15591f-17e4-4785-93b0-b610d8b5d3cb.html

    • Benevolus

      I think automation is a big factor in this. People are working, but after being displaced by a robot they end up working in a lower-skilled, lower-paying job. Fortunately, we are getting so much stuff from China that the lack of wage increases isn’t having as much of an impact as it would otherwise.
      Automation will continue to take jobs. It won’t be long before there are very few taxi drivers, bus drivers, forklift operators, warehouse sorters, etc.
      Population is still growing (slowly) but participation in the labor force is decreasing (more boomers retiring I guess). I believe automation will more than fill the needs of a shrinking workforce, to the point where soon the unemployment rate will start to rise again. As you mentioned, there are too many added expenses to hiring humans when a robot is available.
      We really need to be thinking about realizing our dream of the future where many of our descendants won’t have to work- but they will still need income.

      • Raleigh

        Walter Reuther had the best line for automation.
        Walter Reuther and Henry Ford II, CEO of Ford, toured a new engine plant in Cleveland. As they walked about the plant, Ford gestured to the cutting-edge, automated machines, saying, “Walter, how are you going to get these robots to pay union dues?” Reuther replied: “Henry, the question is how are you going to get those robots to buy your cars?”

      • Ellynn

        Although animation is coming (ie, McDonald’s is testing out order Kiosk’s in areas with labor shortages right now) this is not solving the current skills issue which has been brewing in the last 5 years. As I have noted in the past, the construction industry is extremely short on skilled labor. And it’s the mid-level jobs that are an issue. You can have a mason go through all the tech and vocation training you can fit into a 2 year program, but laying brick and block beyond a basic run (which any robot can do) takes skill which is only really learned over time. Most masons who are in charge of the cut and laying of highly detailed work have at least 10 years on basic and secondary brick placing working under a master mason, and as I mentioned basic run that one learns off of can be will be done by robots one day. Most projects were already running short staffed before the construction boom started 2 years ago, and it has only gotten worse. Instead of increasing the labor force, it has only delayed the completion times, raised the bid costs and lowered the quality in some cases. Masons, sheet metal workers for HVAC, pipe fitters ect… all in short supply.

  2. downthemiddle

    Automation is awesome but disruptive. Due to automation less than 1% of us are toiling on a farm for food. That is much harder work than any of us are doing today. We have the freedom to do so much more and advance as a civilization. Today is no exception. Better get a good education and be adaptable. If not, it is not pretty. But isn’t that the way it always has been?

  3. Noway2016

    Ruhhhhhhh–rohhhhhhh! LMAO!!!
    https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/04/politics/paul-manafort-hearing/index.html

    • Ellynn

      I believe this is a joint indictment with both the tax division and local Virginia district of the DOJ with the SC office.

      My question is why does the judge want to see the unredacted items?

  4. Noway2016

    The Great Man….speaking at NRA!

    • Noway2016

      He just finished. Yall are so screwed in November! LOL!!

  5. Ellynn

    Next door in South Carolina…

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/us/citadel-woman.html

  6. Noway2016

    Why are Schiff and Pelosi actively telling their lemmings to back off from and tone down talks of impeachment? LOL! If Trump is such a pariah , why back off!!??? It’s because to quote DeNiro in The Untouchables, ” You got nuthin’, you got nuthin’…” LOL!

    • Benevolus

      Because it would take 66 67 senators. If they don’t get enough R senators to go to an intervention and get woke then there is no point.

      • Noway2016

        Better late than never, B. I pointed that out on here about 9 months ago. But if they truly believe it, why not adhere to their beliefs?!?!?!?!?!?

        • Benevolus

          Not having the vote doesn’t mean you have abandoned your beliefs.
          Why am I responding to this?

    • Noway2016

      Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, streamlining are we??!?!!!?!? LMAO!

  8. downthemiddle

    Franken is such a sniveling fool. Russia collusion…How is getting fake opposition research and trying to railroad a presidential election not Russian collusion? How can anyone not just laugh at these juvenile whiners? What are they going to run on? We hate a good economy. Anything that helps America we are against. Vote for us, we singlehandedly cratered NFL ratings. We just destroyed the Boy Scouts. We have polluted Washington. We can’t handle free speech on college campuses. We cant handle watching he Simpsons because Apu hurts our freaking feelings. We are gdoing to tear down all of the statues in your hometown. We need a crying closet in every building. We will not tell our kids if they are boys or girls… they can figure it out. We can’t stand the police and the military. Hillary says she lost because of the Russians and too many of the democrats are socialists!! Those are HER words. That sounds about right to me. At least you can take a whiz in the girls or boys bathroom if you feel like it… What the hell happened to these folks?

  10. Noway2016

    Grandpa foils maggot!! MAGA!
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/grandfather-sticks-leg-trip-armed-181552768.html

Add a Comment