CNN comes out with an article saying that economy is doing great because a whole bunch of jobs were created.
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/jobs-report-january-02-02-24/index.html
On the surface that sounds great, but then we can look at other factor, such as the fact that most people in US can't afford an unexpected $1,000 expense.
https://fortune.com/2024/02/01/emergency-1000-expense-most-americans-broke-debt-bankrate/
This implies that people are being paid subsistence wages, and aren't able to meet their needs. This is further supported by data from Monster showing that 37 percent of people have two full time jobs now in order to pay their bills.
https://www.denver7.com/news/national/more-americans-report-being-over-employed-by-working-2-full-time-jobs
Turns out that this precise dynamic was identified by Marx in the first volume of Das Kapital:
To me, this is a great example of theory being an invaluable tool for understanding what's actually happening in the world.
The concept of generating employment holds little significance when businesses are not mandated to pay their workers an equitable and livable wage.
To sum up, read theory!
16 a week... I also did my math wrong, it should have been $64 extra a month after taxes.