Jobs & the American Economy

English 102 - Figueroa - Class Topic Spring 2010

Katel, Peter. "Jobs in the Future: Is a College Education Important?" CQ Researcher, 4 June 2010.
American workers — and their jobless counterparts — are still absorbing the blows of the Great Recession. The economy has finally started to grow again, but more than 8 million jobs that disappeared after the economic crisis began in late 2007 haven't returned. People who do have jobs are working harder. Increased productivity is only one of several major changes on the job front. As technology advances, the competitive environment for U.S. workers is intensifying. American employers now can hire people halfway across the globe to perform skilled tasks — interpreting downloaded X-ray pictures, for example. Experts argue over how many jobs are at risk, but no one disputes that young people are better off with advanced schooling that builds analytical capacity, allowing them to switch careers if necessary. As for lesser-educated workers, demand is rising at the low end of the market. Jobs that fall in between the two extremes may be most at risk.
From the CQ Researcher. Reprinted with permission from CQ Press.

Boolean/Phrase Search Techniques:

• Truncation: econom* (beginning with this) = economy, economic, etc.
• Or Statements: employ* or unemploy* = any of these, broadens
• And Statements: econom* and United States = all of these, narrows
• Phrases: United States = only this, very narrow
• Grouping: (employ* or unemploy*) and United States = do the part in parentheses first – or use ‘Advanced Search’ and put different concepts on different lines

EBSCOhost Boolean/phrase search:

( labor supply or unemployment or employment ) and (recession* or econom*) and united states - 4300+ full text articles

Research questions this attempts to answer:

• What are the impacts of current economic conditions on the labor supply in the United States?
• How has the U.S. recession changed future employment possibilities?
• When will the economic recovery reduce unemployment in the United States?

More Articles:

ProQuest: (college education or college graduates) AND (employ* or jobs or econom* or labor or workers) AND (united states) - 1700+ full text articles from newspapers, magazines and journals

Facts.com World News Digest:

"The Economic Downturn: From Credit Crunch to Global Recession." World News Digest. Facts On File News Services, Jan. 2009. Research feature offering an overview and links to articles arranged by subtopic and date.

Books

Ebrary: Subject ("labor market" OR "labor supply" OR "job creation" OR unemployment OR employment) and Subject ("United States) - 50 ebooks