In January 2008 the US economy provided full-time employment for 122 million people and part-time employment for another 24 million. Then the recession hit, followed by the recovery. The end result was that by January 2014 the US economy had lost more than three million full-time jobs and replaced them with just over two million part-time jobs. At the end of this five-year period there were one million fewer Americans with any kind of employment than at the beginning, and many more Americans who were stuck with only part-time work. Over that same five-year period, the US adult population grew by more than 14 million. In ordinary times about 65% of the US adult population actively participates in the labor force. The fact that in 2014 there were 14 million more adults than in 2008 means that in ordinary times the US economy would need about 9 million more jobs to accommodate them. No matter how you add up the figures, the jobs just aren’t there.

Officially, the economic recession associated with the global financial crisis ended in June 2009. The second half of 2009 and all of 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 were growth years. All official sources forecast continued growth in the US economy for 2014 and 2015. In 2013, the US economy produced 6% more goods and services in real dollar terms than it had in 2007, the last pre-recession year of solid economic growth. Private industry is more productive and more profitable than ever. The stock market Dow Jones Industrial Average “reached yet another record high” on September 19, 2014. For the US economy, things have never been so good. So what’s the problem? If the economy is growing, why aren’t companies hiring? Why is it so hard for people to find decent jobs?

The simple answer is that the economy has changed, and the private sector simply doesn’t need another 9 or 10 million workers to get things done. If it did, it would hire them. It’s ridiculous to blame job seekers for not looking hard enough. The jobs just aren’t there, and it’s increasingly looking like they’re not going to be there.