Jobs "structurally" destroyed?

"Structural" unemployment means different things for different people. To PIMCO's Bill Gross, who says that U.S. jobs have been "structurally" destroyed, it means technological change and globalization, and the inability of the U.S. economy and government to counter these structural forces. Not much more than the impression we get from reading financial headlines. (For the interview, and a better read on what Bill Gross is trying to say, listen to this.)

But if you take the argument that lack of aggregate demand is essentially responsible for the sluggish recovery, then there is nothing inherently "structural" about the U.S. economy that supports the outlook of sub-par growth, if only the government can act more forcefully to stop the bleeding. To Paul Krugman, "structural" unemployment is therefore nothing more than an excuse for inaction.

The evidence suggests that jobs have been destroyed across the board.