"It's $2.13 an hour plus tips. $7 an hour when you're working the bar. Plus, you don't have to fold napkins and silverware. The job's yours, if you want it." I nodded quickly. "Yes, I do," I said, rising from my seat. The woman interviewing me smiled crookedly, told me to wear all black, and said I could start on Tuesday.
The "low-hire, low-fire" US labor market is leaving millions on the outside looking in. It's not just recent college graduates who are struggling to find entry-level positions. Out-of-work mid-career employees are taking part-time jobs, and hiring has stalled in industries from professional services to manufacturing. More than a quarter of the jobless have been out of work more than a half-year - the highest share since the mid-2010s excluding the pandemic-era years.
