‘This Is Just The Kind Of Chaos The American Economy Needs’: CNN Praises U.S. Labor Shortage

As Americans find it harder and harder to purchase Christmas gifts, replace broken appliances, or eat at their favorite restaurant because of the ever-emptying store shelves and ever-increasing prices, CNN commentator Fareed Zakaria claimed that the U.S. labor shortage is “just the kind of chaos the American economy needs.”

While Zakaria cited an economist who argued the lack of shortage is actually a good thing for the U.S. economy, economic data show the massive dearth of workers has raised prices, curtail services, and further stressed Americans who stayed at their jobs.

“Welcome to Strike-tober,” said Fareed Zakaria on Sunday — using a term coined by labor unions to celebrate the mass walkouts that have idled factories in the midst of a global supply chain crisis. “Last week 10,000 workers of the farm equipment manufacturer John Deere went on strike … [and] 1,400 workers at Kellogg’s have been striking for weeks,” he said. Zakaria did not mention that the strikes halted production at both companies, leaving farmers scrambling for equipment and paying tens of thousands of dollars more for used tractors than in years past.

But the U.S. shortage, which resulted in 10.4 million unfilled jobs, goes beyond organized labor to throngs of Americans temporarily quitting their jobs or permanently leaving the workforce.

“Most workers in the U.S. are not unionized, so they may not be inclined to organize a strike. But that doesn’t mean they can’t walk off their jobs,” said Zakaria. “Since April, an average of about four million workers have quit their jobs every month. It is a trend economists have called the Great Resignation.”

August’s “quit rate” of 4.3 million people is the highest in at least two decades, and 3.6 million more unemployed Americans say they are not looking for a job compared to pre-pandemic levels.

That has significantly impacted employees, the employers who pay them, and the consumers who buy their products. Americans who have not taken part in the Great Resignation must work longer, and harder, to pick up the slack for an understaffed business.

The average worker in manufacturing works nearly an hour-and-a-half more overtime now compared to last April. Meanwhile, many businesses are closing early or not opening one or more days a week due to staffing shortages: 80% of restaurants closed early in Michigan over the summer due to a lack of workers, according to a survey from the Michigan Restaurant & Lodging Association

Zakaria said the worker shortage is “actually

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