American unemployment exceptionalism

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Here’s Andrew Leonard’s explanation:

In comparison to the rest of the G-7, the U.S. boast higher levels of income inequality, does a poorer job of educating its workforce, enjoys the double jeopardy of weaker labor unions and a sketchier social welfare net, and, at the government policy level, appears relatively  more influenced by the financial sector than by Main Street.

Add those all up, and it’s pretty simple to understand why the U.S. has performed so badly at job creation while the economic recovery has gathered steam. There are massive forces working against labor in the developed world in the 21st century — and the U.S. is exceptionally unprepared to deal with them.