How Jobless Is Our Recovery?
Kevin A. Hassett
May 10, 2004
  • Print
  • Download

Over the past year, stock markets have climbed, productivity and GDP have soared, but job creation appears to have lagged. While job creation took off in March 2004, the cumulative record suggests that this recovery still lags significantly behind past experience. Or does it? In a new paper, Tim Kane of the Heritage Foundation explores possible design flaws in government statistics that may lead them to misinterpret job creation. Correcting for these flaws, he finds that the latest recovery is not nearly as “jobless” as it first seemed. Many government officials, however, have disagreed with Mr. Kane’s analysis and have argued that the negative statistics cited are based on the best possible measure of employment. Is the United States truly in a jobless recovery, or is the primary method of measuring job creation the real problem?
About the Author

 

Kevin A.
Hassett
  • Before joining AEI, Mr. Hassett was a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and an associate professor of economics and finance at the Graduate School of Business of Columbia University, as well as a policy consultant to the Treasury Department during the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He served as an economic adviser to the George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign and as Senator John McCain's chief economic adviser during the 2000 presidential primaries. He also served as a senior economic adviser to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign. Mr. Hassett is a columnist for National Review.

  • Phone: 202-862-7157
    Email: khassett@aei.org

  • Assistant Info

    Name: Veronika Polakova
    Phone: 202-862-4880
    Email: veronika.polakova@aei.org
Show More | See Full Profile
AEI on Facebook