About 7 years ago

06/01/2017 - Midnight Reads – Why Are So Many Women Dropping Out of The Workforce?

Why Are So Many Women Dropping Out of The Workforce?

– The L.A. Times

For the first time in decades, female participation in the workforce is trending downward. Automation and other workforce trends impact women in the same way as men, and for some young mothers, the cost of childcare might outweigh the gains from working full time.

 

The Question Isn’t Why Wage Growth Is So Low. It’s Why It’s So High.

– The New York Times 

Wage growth is outrunning productivity gains and inflation, leading the New York Times to question whether wage growth is actually too high. The booming job market and ultralow unemployment rate, which fell to 4.4 percent in April, haven’t led employers to raise pay in a meaningful way. That flies in the face of a basic assumption of how the economy works: A tight labor market is expected to lead to pay increases that in turn fuel broader inflation.

 

Why the Suburbs Are Where Innovation Will Happen

– Governing 

According to the Urban Land Institute, suburbs account for 79 percent of the population of the 50 largest U.S. metro areas. Employment opportunities in the suburbs are rising: Between 2010 and 2014, the number of suburban jobs increased by 9 percent, compared to 6 percent in urban areas. Employment growth produces more tax revenue, providing suburban governments with greater flexibility to adapt to disruptive innovation. With open lines of communication between suburbs and cities, suburbs have a chance to redefine themselves as entrepreneurial laboratories of innovation — and perhaps to cause some disruption of their own.

 

Amazon Patents Shipping Label With Built-In Parachute For Dropping Packages From Drones

– Geek Wire 

It’s a bird, it’s a plane … oh wait, it’s your package of diapers. Amazon customers could someday be repeating this phrase as the online retail giant this morning received a patent for a shipping label with a built-in parachute to help packages make a soft landing when dropped out of the air by drone or other airborne craft.