Page 93 - Fortune-November 01, 2018

PA G E
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MARGARE T BOURKE-W HI TE—T IME & LIFE PIC T URES/GE T T Y IM AGES

Full Employment? ECONOMY WHEN UNEMPLOYMENT fell to
3.7% in September, the
lowest in almost 50 years, it was hard to
The Economy Isn’t know whether to cheer or tremble. A
white-hot labor market means it’s easy to get
Acting Like It a healthy raise, which many workers could
certainly use. Booyah! Except that whenever
unemployment has fallen anywhere near
Low levels of joblessness have historically this low in the past 60 years, a recession has
preceded catastrophe. But maybe not this time. inevitably followed, often very quickly, and
inflation has usually surged. No bueno.
By Geoff Colvin

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