Zero Job Growth: Low Rates and High Deficits Aren't Helping U.S. Workers

When the government released its latest jobs report last week, economists were initially cheered because it showed that the nation's unemployment level had dropped much more sharply than anyone expected. But that cheer immediately turned into concern when the report also revealed that the U.S. economy created only 36,000 new jobs in January. That's so far below the norm for this stage of an economic recovery that it would take us 10 years to put back to work all the folks who have lost their jobs since 2007. In short, it's going to take a decade - and probably more - for normalized job growth to return to the U.S. economy. Something has gone very wrong with the U.S. job-creation machine. Economists have been trying to solve this puzzle for more than 30 years. And we found the answer.