More workers in general merchandise stores have been laid off since October, about 89,000 Americans. That is more than all of the people employed in the United States coal industry, which President Trump championed during the campaign as a prime example of the workers who have been left behind in the economic recovery.
The job losses in retail could have unexpected social and political consequences, as huge numbers of low-wage retail employees become economically unhinged, just as manufacturing workers did in recent decades. About one out of every 10 Americans works in retail.
“There is a sea change happening in the retail industry,” said Mark Cohen, a former executive at Sears, who now runs the retail studies program at Columbia Business School. “And that is bringing a sea change in employment.”
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2006—What will the response be to the do-nothing Republican Congress?
Americans are frustrated with this do-nothing Congress. Between Bush's incompetence (best evidenced to ordinary Americans by the Katrina response) to the fact that Congress barely works a few days a week, there seems to be a sense that ours is a nation adrift, with no one a the helm to guide us off this wrong track.
Simply put, Americans crave a functioning government, and this Republican Congress is not functioning. The GOP has had failure after legislative failure, from the embarrassing budget collapse to the fleeting immigration compromise in the Senate.
We've seen how Republicans try to blame this do-nothing Congress on Democrats. It's a preposterous assertion, of course, given that Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. They are the majority, but they act like they're in the minority to deflect attention away from their in-fighting and their inability to govern.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Greg Dworkin rounds up polls & headlines. Trump protests protesters. More Gop town hall punishment. WH sucks (at) eggs. Battle lines blur as gov’t shutdown looms. China moved on N. Korea... by Trump’s lunacy. Meanwhile, Manafort deals himself back in.
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