Business Systemics LO6096

Rol Fessenden (76234.3636@compuserve.com)
13 Mar 96 21:33:07 EST

Replying to LO5825 --

I have more interesting data that sheds light on the US economy, jobs, and
corporations.

Cvilian employment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, stands
now at 125 million jobs in the US. That does not tell us much without
some context. Let me compare it to 1971, and to Europe. This is a 59%
increase since 1971, or over the last 25 years. Compare that to the 6%
growth in France, Germany, Italy and the UK over the same period. It
appears that the US creates jobs effectively.

You have to be careful how you use statistics, and there may be hidden
snags in these. However, the gaps are dramatic enough that one could
suppose there is a significant and dramatic difference between US and
European economies' ability to create jobs.

Regarding the US economy, it is fascinating to find out who provides the
jobs. It is not, as one might expect, from reading newspapers, the large
companies who provide the bulk of the jobs. For example, the Fortune 500
provide 11 million jobs, slightly less than 10% of the total. All the
companies owned by women, by comparison, provide slightly more jobs than
the Fortune 500.

In other words, job creation is not a highly centralized and controlled
affair among a few large companies as is sometimes envisioned. In
reality, the vast majority of jobs are created by small businesses.

Interesting food for thought about the systemic issues.

--

Rol Fessenden LL Bean 76234.3636@compuserve.com

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>