https://gritpost.com/good-jobs-editorial/ "As Reuters reported, the unemployment rate hasn’t been this low in 18 years. ABC News reported that the current unemployment rate is “tantalizingly close” to the 3.5 percent unemployment rate in 1969, when the American auto industry was at its peak. However, simply taking the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) jobs numbers at face value without adding in the proper context of stagnant wages and rising costs of living is ignorant at best, and intentionally deceptive at worst. For example, while the federal minimum wage remains a paltry $7.25/hour, the minimum wage would actually be $16/hour today had it risen at the same rate as the cost of living from 1968 to 2018, according to Andrew Pacitti, an assistant professor of economics at Siena College. In late May, the United Way’s ALICE Project (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) project found that approximately 43 percent of the U.S. population — or 51 million Americans — are unable to afford basic necessities like housing, food, healthcare, transportation,communications, and child care with their current monthly income. And last year, 44 percent of Americans say they would be unable to cover an unexpected $400 expense — say, an emergency room visit or a broken alternator — without having to borrow from someone or sell their possessions. This leads many Americans to work multiple jobs out of necessity. BLS data shows that in May of 2018, more than 7.4 million Americans, or 4.8 percent of the workforce, maintained at least two jobs. Of that 7.4 million, more than four million are having to work a part-time second job in addition to a primary full-time job. Approximately 294,000 Americans worked two full-time jobs last month. BLS figures show that even though the unemployment rate has hit an 18-year-low, workers’ share of corporate profits is still lower than it was during the Great Recession" Good Jobs Numbers Are Worthless if People Need Multiple Jobs to Survive gritpost.com