emissions, which being in a recession, and other words, a circumstance in which the world slows down. >> sunday, on q&a, what would happen to the economy and environment of the world cut consumption but 5%? mckinnon argues that in his book the day the world stopped shopping, arguing that the way the world uses resources is unsustainable. on c-span's q hyundai. you can listen to all of our podcasts on the new c-span now app. ♪ host: it is the washington journal for december 4. most analysis of yesterday's job reports showed a mixed bag. 210,000 added in november.

some are predicting half a billion. employment showed rises and the unemployment rate dropped as well. you can give us your snapshot by calling us this morning. if you are recently employed and want to tell is your view, (202)-748-8000. perhaps you are looking for work, (202)-748-8001. if you stopped looking for work and want to tell us why? , (202)-748-8002. for all others on your perspective on the job market (202)-748-8003. you can also use that number to text is your thoughts. you can post on the facebook page at facebook.com/c-span and if you wish, can post on twitter @c-spanwj. papers offer the analysis behind the report. 210,000 jobs created in november. from the washington post,

economists had been predicting 500,000 to 600,000 new jobs for november. they hope for a period of more sustained growth. the country has been adding more than 500,000 jobs a month on average, gaining back nearly 5 million jobs. at 2.4% it was not supposed to be this low until 2024. white house advisers say they expect inflationary pressures to slow down over the next year. the gains made by workers to in wages to last. that is sometimes used to gauge where job growth is.

november the labor force grew nearly 600,000 people, the biggest gain in more than a year. the number of americans reporting rose to more than 1.1 million according to the labor department report. those gains might be confusing given the same report the number of jobs added was far below expectations. the two sets of numbers come from different surveys, one from employers and one from households. over time the two sources usually tell consistent stories about the job market but sometimes differ over shorter periods because of inherent errors. if you go to the wall street journal, it looks at the topic of wages and where they are, especially in light of the report from yesterday. you can add that story as well. you can let us know about your wage experience. this is from gabriel saying, average hourly earnings in november were 4.8% higher from a

year ago for all private industries. wages were 13.7 percent higher for leisure and hospitality and almost 9% higher for transportation and warehousing, two of the sectors most effected , as the economy rebounds. those are some of the numbers. you can give us your own sense of where you view the job market. you can use these lines to call and let us know. if you are recently employed, give us a call at (202)-748-8000 . if you are looking for work, call us at (202)-748-8001. if you stopped looking, (202)-748-8002. if you want to give your perspective on the job market but you don't fit the other categories, give us a call at (202)-748-8003. you can use that same number to text us and facebook and twitter available as well. the president yesterday

addressed the jobs numbers and analysis that was done. you can find this whole event on the website c-span.org but here's a portion of president biden yesterday even his reaction. [video clip] >> every year december brings the joys of holiday season and gives us an opportunity to reflect on the year gone by and look ahead and begin to imagine the new year to come. this year we can reflect on an extraordinary bit of progress. our economy is markedly stronger than it was a year ago and today the incredible news our unemployment rate has fallen to 4.2%. at this point in the year we are looking at the sharpest one year decline in unemployment ever. simply put, america is back to work and our jobs recovery is going very strong. today's historic drop in unemployment rate includes dramatic improvements for workers who have often seen higher wages and higher levels of unemployment -- excuse me,

higher levels of unemployment. they are receiving higher wages. but that is not just jobs that are up. wages are up, especially for hard-working americans often ignored in the past. workers in transportation and warehouses have seen their wages go up 10% this year. workers in hotels and restaurants have seen their wages go up 13% this year. thanks to the american rescue plan we delivered significant tax cuts to families raising children. tax cuts and raising wages for middle-class families mean americans on average have more in their pockets today than they did last year after accounting for inflation. let me repeat that. even after accounting for rising prices the typical american family has more money in their pockets than they did last year.

in fact, we are the only leading economy in the world where household income and the economy as a whole are stronger than they were before the pandemic. host: that whole event available at c-span.org. it garnered some reaction from democratic members of congress. senator tim kaine saying since the president took office the unemployment is down. nearly 6 million jobs created, wages up, and democrats are building back better. a viewer adds to this conversation saying, it is a buyers market. $15 an hour seems perfectly acceptable to me. if you don't get $15 worth of labor, fire them and find someone else. let's keep the momentum and create good paying jobs by quickly passing the build back better act. representative of virginia looks at the analysis, offers

attachments is some of that say, look at the report to see who is benefiting from the sharp drop in unemployment. these gains are broadly felt. unemployment for women is down, unemployment for black americans is down, unemployment for hispanic americans is down and unemployment for asian americans is down. we have to acknowledge this is not enough. we have to build back better ensuring workers and their families can achieve economic security and access opportunities to get ahead. those are the reactions from democratic members of congress. the house minority leader offering his own assessment of yesterday's job number. here is some of what he said yesterday. [video clip] >> just this week the federal reserve chair and biden's own treasury secretary said it was time to retire the word "transitory pickup chairman powell could not confirm whether consumer prices would let up over the next year. i don't know what the press

secretary is doing in the white house today but maybe they are coming up with the new term to dismiss inflation concerns. after his policies because gas prices to skyrocket he said he would lower the gas price. he has not done it. he has made it worse. not the measly to sense -- two cents they think is a reduction. he depleted 50 million barrels from the emergency supply and has done nothing to reverse this agenda. in my home state of california you see the price rise almost every day. more than five dollars a gallon. that hurts the hard-working americans every single day. it is not just the gas price. they fill up the car and go to the grocery store, it costs the more. they turn on the heat, it costs the more.

everything they do and now we have come to christmas. we worry about the ability to even get the gifts you want or you can afford them. but what is the answer we get from the white house? can't even promise you the christmas gift will arrive on time. the american people are tired of this one-party rule and what has come of it in one year. when americans take the majority next year we make this commitment to every single american -- we will listen to you. we will hear you, we will work on your policies, and we will improve your quality of life. host: the reaction from washington. that being said it is time for your reaction. if you are recently employed, (202)-748-8000. if you are looking for work, (202)-748-8001. if you stopped looking, (202)-748-8002. all others at (202)-748-8003. ben in west palm beach, florida on the line for others.

what is your assessment of the job market? caller: good morning. i think with everything costing almost twice -- not everything -- but gas prices, lumber prices, food prices exponentially increasing i think there should be some natural increases to wages. that being said, i don't know where it stops. i don't know how it can continue increasing like how it has been. jobs that were paying $10 an hour pre-covid are offering $20 an hour -- that's an exaggeration -- but all kinds of sign-on bonuses. i am not saying people who work hard should not be able to live comfortably but i don't see an end to these increases. host: you talked about that natural increase. i was wondering if you thought what you are seeing is natural and what is the sweet spot? $15 an hour is where you start but as far as a number where'd

you go? caller: just to use an example, pre-covid i was a manager in the hospitality industry. i was making $15 an hour salaried as the manager. the crew was making $10 an hour hourly. post-covid i feel like a lot of the managerial positions -- at least in that industry -- stayed but the hourly rates have increased. i'm sorry. i don't have an answer of where the sweet spot would be but i think the natural increases better than the legislation from washington. host: was your work consistent during the last couple of years or did you find yourself out of work at time? what was that picture for you? caller: so, when the pandemic first started i was laid off for about two months, went back to work in the hospitality industry, but then i got -- i found a better job.

host: ok. ben in west palm beach, florida. yahoo! news offering assessment yesterday. they say they are still over one million people out of work and the leisure and hospitality business. the labor secretary told yahoo! finance he was surprised by the total number of the jobs reports showing only 23,000 payroll gains in that sector on a seasonal basis. adding that is not where we wanted to be. employment in leisure and hospitality crater during the depths of the pandemics at bars, restaurants, museums and casinos closed. total payroll in the sector nearly halved, losing 8.2 million jobs. in missouri this is carol.

good morning. caller: good morning. i watched all your c-span programs and biden talks about all these jobs he created over the past year makes my stomach turn. most of these jobs he created was jobs that was there before the pandemic. i keep hearing him say he is going to create jobs with this new bill. when he does then he can brag about it but these other jobs going right now, jobs that opened thanks to the rich states who pushed them to open up, finally opening up and working. if he wants to brag about the jobs, find, but don't say he created them. these were people who had businesses working before the pandemic hit. i am sick of when he says that because i know it is not true. host: what is your assessment of

the jobs situation in missouri? caller: we have some jobs here. multiple people here have gone back to work that had lost it through the pandemic. there is a couple of places that closed it down that have not reopened so we have extra people looking for work and we got some -- i talked to a lady the other day when i was in town and she said she is not going back to work. she is in her 30's and said with my husband working and me getting extra money, she is still getting money from the state to help her while they were on the pandemic leave. i don't understand all these people. host: that was carol in missouri. let's hear from someone looking for work. steven in staten island, new york. caller: morning. actually it is my husband. we are struggling because he

lost his job early in the pandemic. everybody went remote and he was not able to -- his job is not able to be done remotely. he is now working. but he is still underemployed because he cannot find anything to match what he was doing. now he is working part-time and he had a few job offers in between but they were all for very low wages. nothing that would enable us to meet the demands we have now with our mortgage and everything. host: what kind of work, if i may ask, did your husband do? caller: he was an operations professional and finance. host: i imagine, as far as the market for that kind of job, it is not a large market or because you said some of the offers he got maybe were not matching the salary that he got before? caller: he started looking in other areas outside of finance because operations is kind of

confusing. it is a very big field and every company has an operations. he started looking outside of finance and those were the jobs he was getting offered but it was for one dollar over minimum wage. host: if i may ask, what type of work does he do now? caller: right now proctoring exams. it is kind of anybody with minimal training could do it. host: gotcha. that was stephen island in staten island, new york. brian in phoenix, arizona on the line for others. hello. caller: hello. i appreciate you taking my call. where would you like me to begin? host: how would you assess the job market currently? caller: i know the pandemic has caused a lot of bad situations for small business. basically our middle income

class people. i definitely see a lot of things opening up. the stores, the walmarts, a lead of things to get people back in it. when i moved to phoenix in 2009, right when the obama administration got in, back east with the auto industry and whatnot it was really shut down. i moved to phoenix in 2009, got into a program, was homeless, but they had a good homeless academic college campus style. within a matter of time i got housing vouchers and before the pandemic i was paying third income and doing quite well. no food stamps, i was doing everything on my own. then the pandemic hit. they worked with me on that and

then i had another management come in and the apartments, when they bought it, they decided they were going to throw everybody out, innovate it, and resell it or whatever. my point of this conversation -- i appreciate you hearing me out -- my concern -- and i'm not just speaking for myself -- would be the homeless category that really needs the housing on a very basic level to meet these jobs that are opening up. i am not just speaking -- like the fellow from missouri. he was insinuating it is all low income. that may be true but i am seeing it go the other way. my point being is no matter what side of the tracks you are on i do think the work is opening up. my concern from my experience -- and i would have to say i am speaking for others -- if you are going to take a free ride,

that is on you. you can't expect society to keep carrying you but if it is really out there, you cannot get to it with the basics. host: that was brian in phoenix, arizona. this is from anthony in minneapolis. hello. caller: hi. i am just really upset with the way people are looking at this. the job market, has anybody taken the consideration -- yesterday a young man called and said what about the people who died? we have over a million and a half people who have died? how many are sitting in the hospital? i want to bring up wages. wages stopped growing in the 1960's and 1970's when employers stopped. inflation has been going up since the 1960's. let me go back to the $15 an hour. that is $31,200 a month -- i

mean, a year. you take into consideration rent , $1000 a month. utilities, $6,000 a year. food, $6,000 a year. transportation if you are taking the bus or car, we have already reached $31,000. we have not talked about buying clothes or anything like that. americans need to stop listening to these people that all they want to do is stay in power. vote your pocket. host: as far as that is concerned what will it change if you voted your pocket and what do you think it would do? where do you think the wages should be considering what you said so far? caller: it should be contending with what the prophets are making from the corporations -- profits are making from the corporations. poor people that pay taxes don't get anything.

we argue republicans won't give us $1400 a month but they will give rich people $120,000 tax break indefinite. americans, think about it. we need two more parties. host: we will leave it there. eric on the other line, las vegas. good morning. caller: good morning. i love c-span. i love the job market right now. in 2009, chrysler dropped my entire division. we lost everything. going to charities just to get something to eat. my wife and i lost everything. the government put me through a school to drive trucks in 2012 and i am making six figures driving a truck. i am driving a load right now.

now, because of all the shortages, we were 200,000 drivers short before the pandemic. i have had three races this year. i love making six figures, love being on the road. there are jobs to be had and definitely no truck drivers waiting for a government check because it is nowhere close to six figures. host: how much training was involved in becoming a driver? caller: i was very fortunate and i did not know i was the exception. i was in the full semester program but a person can go through truck driving school in 30 days. host: that's getting a cdl and be able to haul various types of loads? caller: correct. host: what is the typical haul you do and is it a steady thing week to week? caller: i am a company driver. i am not an owner operator.

i have steady work. i am taking this load into riverside, california, picking up a load that goes back to pennsylvania. it is what it is. everyone has different challenges. i have been on both sides of the challenge. i live in las vegas. been standing outside waiting for groceries at 118 degrees is challenging but it is good for me now. host: randy is in minnesota, recently employed. caller: hi. my name is randi and i am southwest of the twin cities. i am a dental hygienist. this coming june i will have been in dentistry 50 years. i lost my job four years ago. i got to be employed again and then covid hit. luckily i had already signed over social security and even

though i went through the unemployment program it was really through a coworker i was connected. i went to fill in for maternity leave and i am grateful to still be there and greatly appreciated for my skills. i wanted to call and encourage especially the older people. go through the network of friends you have, pass the word. there are jobs out there. i am no longer doing a 2 hour drive. i am doing a two minute drive -- 23 minute drive. life is good and you know what else i noticed? us that are older and working part-time like i am doing two days a week, guess what? i am not putting on weight, i am exercising twice a day, my holiday season wish is everyone that is older, get your foot in the door and keep going. host: do you think for being the older workers in our audience, how do you think employers treat

them compared to younger workers? do you think there is hesitancy to get work because of age? caller: most definitely. anyone that says age is not a factor they are blind and deaf. but once you get your foot in the door can i outwork the younger ones? yes. i'm kind of appalled of the younger hygienists. they don't have the skills. they were not brought up with the line of older people that made me the professional i am today. hopefully i can start giving back although i try to keep my mouth shut because i don't want to make any enemies in the office. hopefully they will real is my skills and that patients are requesting me. the person that left no one seems to be concerned about. hopefully they will be smart enough being younger people to do what i did, learn from those that are older and more skilled. as a professional anyone who is

a good worker in any field they are willing to share. that makes us happy at the end of the day. host: that was randi giving her employment history as a dental hygienist. you can add yours to the mix, particularly as you talk about your view of the todd market -- job market. we talked about the numbers yesterday. you can reference those. if you would like to give your own perspective like some have this morning, if you are recently employed, (202)-748-8000. you might be looking for work, (202)-748-8001. if you stopped looking, (202)-748-8002. the line for others (202)-748-8003. let's hear from someone looking for work in trenton, new jersey. this is mark. caller: good morning. how are you? host: i'm well, thank you. how about yourself? caller: good.

i am almost in the same boat that woman that was just on. i'm 62 years old and worked at the same business 40 years. they say all these great jobs are out there that are only part-time. 70% are part-time. they are all minimum-wage, $12 an hour. you cannot live on $12 an hour which that man called previously about the rent being $1000, he could never cover your bills. i am thinking about taking the early retirement at 62 and getting some kind of part-time job which the wage will go to $13 an hour starting in january in new jersey. that is what i have to look forward to because i am 62 and it is going to be really hard for me to find a job out there

that would be full-time and a business looking at me at my age saying, this man is only going to be here five years. he is going to retire so why are we going to hire him? host: if i may ask, what kind of work are you looking for? what is your background? caller: i was in shipping and receiving at a small company and then i was in retail part-time back some years ago. that's where i'm at. host: that was mark in new jersey calling us about his experience looking for a job. some reactions from other members of congress from the jobs report. senator tim scott, republican, another disappointing jobs report for the biden administration. shows the united states added the smallest number of jobs since december 2020. steve tweets, the most recent

reports as unemployment went from 4.6% to 4.2% while labor participation group. that is a rosy picture. personally my job has been secure throughout the pandemic because our union. randy from arizona, holiday should be surging but thanks to president biden the jobs report is another failure. jim jordan of ohio saying, gas prices continue to soar and another disappointing jobs report. the biden administration is not building back anything better. another portion from president biden talking about the jobs report picture and talked about his administration's record on creating jobs. [video clip] >> today's news means unemployment has fallen more than two percentage points since i took office. that is the fastest decline in a single year on record. that is three times faster than any other president in their first year in office. the number of people claiming

unemployment has fallen from 18 million when i took office to 2 million this week, another record drop. we learned in november 235,000 jobs were created in the private sector. when they went back and recalibrated they found the last two months job growth actually created 82,000 more jobs than the previous report. which means that we have averaged nearly 400,000 new jobs a month over the last three months, a solid pace. all told in the first 10 months of my administration the economy created 6 million jobs, a record for a new president. this is significant improvement from when i took office in january. a sign we are on the right track. host: that full event at c-span.org. let's hear from jason on the line for others, ohio.

caller: how's it going this morning? host: it goes well. caller: we here in ohio, we are sheltered from the rest of the nation to a degree. i have no problem finding work. i am a carpenter. i do high-end remodels and the business is booming because we have people at home with the pandemic and they want to fix up their home. after sitting there a couple of years they start seeing things. that businesses find. what i want to say about what biden has done is that it is easy to say that numbers look good. you can interpret numbers anyway you want. the fact of it is he has killed so many jobs. this economy could be doing so much better. the oil and gas market has taken a hit. this area used to be full of oil

and gas jobs with the pipelines and everything else. that's all shut down now. i have no clue why. all it is is causing problems for everyone else. inflation is going so high wages could never keep up with it. he has a mess on his hands. that is my view of it. host: let me ask you this because you mentioned you are a carpenter. would you advise someone to consider one of the trades versus going to college for an education? because of your background is a carpenter. caller: it depends. let's say you are a 4.0, full ride to college. go to college. if you are one of those students struggling to go to school or something of that nature, absolutely. get into one of the trades. the wages are actually kind of going up in the trades. that is one of the few areas in

the whole economy the wages or even gumming up. host: as far as the training for a trade, i know you may not be able to talk generally, but typically do employers pay people to learn the trade while they are learning? caller: yeah but you are not going to get -- if you know something going in, you are going to get better pay. but they will train you because you're going to give them something, too. you will start out here $12 an hour something like that but they will pay you to learn. if you are not picking it up they have the option to fire you. host: that was jason in ohio talking about his work as a carpenter, talking about the job market. his view not only from the report yesterday but his own personal perspective as well. women, as part of the analysis

from yesterday's numbers, saying the bureau of labor statistics latest report showed november mark to slow down and hiring as experts fear the new variant that could disrupt economic recovery. november was a sluggish month for women reentering the workforce as women gained only 36% of new jobs, according to the national women's law center. a sharp decline from october were more than half of new positions went to women. the director of research for the organization is quoted saying "there clear cause for concern in this report." these modest gains could be reversed in just a few weeks. 274,000 enter the workforce in november bumping the participation rate to 57.3%. but while 124,000 white women and 127,000 latina women joined

the workforce, 91,000 black women left. john in new york looking for a job. you are on. caller: i am looking for a job but also i am worried about covid. my brother called and he had his sore throat. a friend of mine passed away recently. but more than vaccines for covid i think we need a vaccine for what is going on with our political structure. the vaccine we need for our political structure right now, the quickest we can get this vaccine is the next election cycle. host: you are looking for a job. are you not looking? how selective are you because of

covid concerns? tell us about your experience looking for a job. caller: i am looking for a job because i got the energy bills, they rose. before i was ok with social security and the increase in inflation is really hard. it is up to 6% now. the gas prices are going up and my social security i was able to live on in the past but right now -- i am on a tight budget. i am walking on thin ice. i was able to manage and now it is like, if this thing increases, i don't know what i am going to do. we are walking unknown territory with these solar panels and solar farms. host: what type of work are you looking for? caller: i am looking for anything. maybe a $15 an hour job.

host: that was john in new york. some of your experiences being related or your perspectives be related on twitter. this is mark saying, looking at canada, we added 154,000. they have been mirroring the u.s. for months. bc venice saying, this is one aspect of an economy so reagan twisted nobody can keep up. everything rises to the top by design. off the twitter feed, so many jobs, so little pay. another viewer saying, i am always working as an artist. never sold much artwork and books as i have this year. i am working and others are too. if you build it, people will come and they will find it useful. twitter is available if you want to look -- post @c-spanwj.

text us at (202)-748-8003. doug in wilmington, north carolina on the line for others. caller: good morning, pedro. i know today's going to be a great day starting off talking to you. i quit my job four years ago to pursue my art career so it is ironic you showed that text from the other person. things are going good. slowly getting going. my wife was fully backing me. after coronavirus the shows a down. i was getting unemployment but after that my wife and i split up. i am living on my own, she is paying my rent but only until the end of next year. i am starting to do these shows again and we have taken off. i am not saying this to brag but one day i am making $1000. i don't want to go look for a

job, let's say, hobby lobby, where they are going to pay me little bit more than minimum wage. they are not paying people time. i have friends of mine working over at dollar tree. she was excited because she was working thanksgiving and she is getting time and a half but did not realize they did not give her more hours after that. this art thing is taking off and i hope it takes off. host: what type of art do you create? caller: i do photography of urban decay. can i give my business a shout out? host: let me move on to larry and columbus, ohio. larry, hello. caller: hello. can you hear me? host: you are on. go ahead. caller: i am looking for work and i am 66.

the people complaining about other people looking for work, if the party would pass the bill back, better act it would help me a lot because i would be able to get social security and make ends meet. you are able to work and still draw social security. they complain about not being able to find work but they will not pass nothing to help the small man get up. host: what type of work are you currently looking for? caller: i was in construction but i am able, like i said, to be doing something different. but the fact they will not pass

anything that allows persons to go back to work, to make ends meet. but they want to complain about the unemployment. but they don't want to help nobody. how can you help somebody when they don't pass anything? that would allow me to get my health back in shape because i did not make nothing. people do a lot of complaining. host: are there health issues keeping you from going back to construction or is there not enough construction in columbus making that happen? caller: there is a lot of construction and work to be done but once you get into a health bottle you have to have the money to pay the doctors in

order to get you back in shape even go to work. if it had not been for medicaid and the health aid they passed on obamacare, i would never have been able to get the help i need to get back in shape to get back to work. host: that was larry, columbus, ohio. talking about the federal government aspects of the build back better and other issues. you can roll those into the conversation if you wish. tima in hackensack, new jersey. caller: i am a retired schoolteacher and have been retired five or six years. i have been doing online instruction and i find that is a seamless process because with covid everything went remote.

we were already remote so it really did not cause any type of disruption in my employment. i am blessed to be able to do that. host: what is it like teaching online versus in class? caller: in the classroom you have to go to a brick and mortar building and you are encountering students from a physical point of view. but the online instruction you are virtual. i have students all over the country and it is no problem because everybody gets on, they do the lessons given to them, and we do encounter them virtually. zoom conference calls and things like that. it has been great. i have not had any disruption during this covid crisis. host: when you are instructing people is it one-on-one, is it a group setting, how does that work? caller: it can be group.

most of the time it is one-on-one where you're talking with your student, trying to help them navigate their classes and what they have to do in class. host: fatima talking about her time as an online instructor. snapshot we are getting from the job market from you. the government offering their own snapshot. the jobs picture yesterday, you can find that online at various sources. we are asking you to pay your perspective of the job market in light of yesterday's report. david in dallas, texas currently working for work. hello. caller: hello. i was recently incarcerated and prior to that i worked for 20 plus years customer service and sales.

very good at what i did, made six figures, but the only thing i can get is fast food, hospitality, $12 is, $15 an hour and that is not enough to maintain my lifestyle. a lot of people would say, get what you can until you can do better but i am 57 years old and i can't stand on my feet eight hours a day. the vast majority of my life has been sitting down and it is a problem, it is a major problem. people love my background the love what i did and when they see i was incarcerated, i'm sorry, there's nothing we can do. i have been catching hell the past six months looking for a job. my life is considered -- my life is maintained by donating plasma, doing side jobs, and it is real hard to find something that is a job with longevity. host: if i may ask, what would

be your message to employers for someone in your situation with the work background and yet, a felon as well? what would be the message you sent to employers? caller: i did something stupid. for the record, i went in my ex-girlfriend's house with the key and was arrested for burglary ended eight months of penitentiary because i failed probation. i tell them of that i did something stupid. i paid my debt to society and nine times out of 10, as bad as people say they want someone to work, something like that they won't hire you. when they say there are a lot of jobs out there there are a lot of jobs for kids that don't want to work. they want to sit around and collect unemployment and food stamps. that is not my style. i will get food stamps but believe me when i tell you, i

have been raking and scraping trying to keep my head above water. soon as they see that felon, i'm sorry, there's nothing we can do. no fortune 500 company will hire me. it is really hard. it's frustrating. when people say there are jobs out there, there are jobs for teenagers that don't want to work, for the younger generation who don't give it their all. i am frustrated. i am very frustrated. every time i hear about all these jobs and they can't fill them, it has been contrary to me. host: david in dallas, texas. thank you for sharing your story with our audience. that is his story. you can share yours as well on the various lines. neil erwin does analysis on economic issues for the new york times takes a look at yesterday under the headline, once you get past the big number the november jobs report is not bad.

sometimes the falling unemployment rate is driven by pernicious trends. people drop out of the labor force. the opposite was true in november. the survey of american households on which data showed uniformly positive signs. the number of people working was up 1.1 million while the number of adults not in the labor force, neither working or looking, fell 37,000. among people in their prime 24 to 55 rose half a percentage point. it was 78.8% in november approaching pre-covid levels of 80.4%. by early 2022 it is easy to imagine people in that age bracket will be employed at pre-pandemic rates. if you want to go to the website, you can find neil erwin 's analysis there. humboldt, texas, thomas says he stopped looking for work. caller: merry christmas, america. listen america, one of the

biggest reasons it is hard to work on social security is because you are only allowed to make so much. i think you can only keep $2000 in the bank before you penalize after that or you can only make $17,000 a year. you should be able to make $40,000 before anything is penalized, taken out of your social security check. another thing, if you know anything about green energy, get your solar job. on-the-job application it should be, can you do this and are you an american citizen? end of story. host: let me jump back a little bit. you said you stopped working. you stopped working because of social security or were there other factors? caller: i received it. i could get a job tomorrow. somebody is trying to hire me now. i used to work in health care. host: why did you stop looking? caller: well, because i have

money. [laughs] if you have money, you know, i have some property and money. i feel for the people who really have to get out and work because it is no joke. but there is a lot of jobs -- after five years you should require, hey, did you go to jail? there is a lot of people with those records. host: thomas in humboldt, texas. another texan, dylan is recently employed. caller: how are you doing? host: well thanks. how about yourself? caller: pretty good. for me through this whole pandemic i never had a problem being employed. i know a lot of people did lose their jobs due to the pandemic. but a lot of people i know that

weren't working during the pandemic, i saw a lot of people quitting their jobs just to get the unemployment and i know a lot of people who did lose their jobs. i am taking that out of the factor. when i see with my generation -- i am 32 years old and in construction. i am trying to get 12 people jobs that i know. through the recovery community i have tried to get people jobs in my generation, they don't want to work. they don't want to do hard work. they want to do the bare minimum and try to get top dollar. with the younger generation it is more, in my opinion, there is a lot of entitlement and laziness. that is my opinion and there is

a lot of people there are reasons they cannot get jobs. there is a lot of jobs out there that will not pay the cost-of-living. i had to move because i could not afford to live in austin. host: what drew you to construction? caller: when i was 18 it was a job. i started tearing off shingles for nine dollars an hour. i am at $30 an hour now. it took 12 years but, you know, you just got to stick it out and climb up the ladder. when i try to get guys jobs they don't want to start loading dumpsters and doing the grunt work. they want to start learning right away and there is a system to it. you always start at the bottom and work your way up. host: that was dylan another

texan calling with his job picture, particularly in the world of construction. michael from twitter saying, the job market is smoking hot. those looking have plenty of choices. even those working now have as much leverage as i have ever seen. rebecca stoner of twitter saying, a wendy's near me has assigned about the benefits and sign-on bonus as well as the pay they are offering. that is from where you live and you can give us your perspective on the job market as you call or tweet us or text us or whatever means you use. elaina in washington, d.c. looking for work. caller: yes i am. i worked for the -- the one tier

supervisor wanted to give me a raise but the second tier did not and he did everything he could because i am black and native american to dissuade me from getting hired even further. i had a job interview on the same job. the woman asked me, and i had been there for 10 years, what does the agency for international development do? which was a white woman and i told you my nationality. so, i negated to speak and walked out of her office. that is the treatment you get for being black and a woman of color. host: if i may ask, as far as looking for work what kind of work are you looking for and what is the opportunity currently? caller: i am a paralegal and i

can do any job that i can be qualified for. but the qualifications and the standards they require in the descriptions of the jobs don't match. host: what do you mean by that? caller: oh, it will tell you all you need is a high school education but in fact you need a college education to be required for any job in the district of columbia. the mayor is hollering pride. everybody is not gay. host: hold on, as a paralegal do you have some education specifically to that as opposed to high school? caller: i went to usda grad school to earn what i have to do

but my company, which is the federal government, would not pay for me and i had to pay out-of-pocket because i was dissuaded because i am a woman of color. if you understand what i mean. host: that was a lena -- caller: and then i had the union try to fight for me. host: i have to leave it there. thank you for the story. she related her job experiences leading up to that. richard in broken arrow, oklahoma on the line for others. richard, hello. richard in broken arrow, oklahoma. we will try him one more time. ok. that is a little bit of the perspective from those of you watching the program taking a look at the issue of the job market. for the next couple of minutes if you want to give us a call and give us your perspective,

(202)-748-8000 for those of you recently employed. (202)-748-8001 if you are looking for work. if you have stopped looking, a couple of you calling on that front, (202)-748-8002. the line for others (202)-748-8003. we will try steve in charleston, south carolina on the line for others. hello. caller: hey, pedro. how you doing? i am a logistics analyst and i have been in logistics since the early 1980's. 74 years old and still working. i love going to work every day, love the camaraderie. i want to talk about fuel prices for a minute. we have tunnel vision about fuel prices. it is more than how it affects us to get from point a to point b. it affects production in some factories and plants and people say, well, not all factories use fuel.

yeah but they have to pay for inbound freight to reduce parts. we have had this happen before. i wish -- i wonder if his company started adding fuel surcharges because they will do that. the have to pass the cost on to somebody else to keep prices reasonable. it is just the way it is. as far as the supply chain goes in charleston we have been open 24/7 forever. i don't understand the west coast deal. they don't have holidays. what did they do? these guys love to work holidays because they get like triple time. by the way, it is going to go up 6% the cost-of-living but does not include fuel and food. somebody please explain that? i don't get it. host: that is stephen charleston, south carolina giving us the last call on this topic. to all who participated thanks for doing so. steve mentioned the supply

chain. two experts joining us to talk about supply chain and related topics for our discussion. the competitive enterprise institute's ryan young and economic policy institute's robert scott joining us next for that. later on we hear from dr. diane reidy-langunes, host of "cancer straight talk" podcasted talks about the 50th anniversary of the national cancer act and development and research when it comes to cancer. those conversations coming up on washington journal. >> without the advances we have made in efficiency in renewables for example, i think certainly our circumstances would be much more serious than we are today. at the same time, we have been entirely focused on that kind of approach to climate change for the last 20 years and we have let us -- yet to see a single

year in which there has been an absolute reduction in global carbon emissions, which being in a recession or pandemic, or without a circumstance in which the world slows down it shopping. >> sunday on q&a what would happen to the economy and the environment if the world cut consumption by 25%. j.b. mckinnon discusses that as -- in his book "when the world stop shopping." you can listen to all of our podcasts on our new sisi c-span now app. ♪ >> c-span offers a variety of podcasts that have something for every inch -- listener. weekdays, washington tillett -- today gives you the latest from the nation's capital and they have in-depth interviews with

writers about their latest works while the weekly uses audio from our immense i, -- archive to look at how issues of the day developed and are occasional series talking with is -- features extensive conversations. many of our television programs are also available as podcasts. you can find them all on the c-span now mobile app or wherever you get your podcasts. >> "washington journal" continues. host: on the topics of economics and the job picture and supply chains being part of this conversation. two debt -- two guest joining us to talk about that. ryan young is with the competitive enterprise institute and robert scott from the economic policy institute. both of you, thank you for giving us your time. guest: thank you. guest: and thank you for having us. host: before we talk about the supply chain picture, we saw the