Why Employment is Continuing Down

I mentioned earlier this week that, despite the fact that GDP and consumer spending turned around months ago, employment would probably continue down. Today it was reported that October payroll employment was almost 200,000 less than it was in September.

For those who think that employment is just a reaction to consumer spending, that may come as a surprise. But, as I suggested on Wednesday, the "paradox of thrift" has been a symptom, not a cause, of this recessinon.