hvactec
VIP Member
Monday, 28 May 2012 10:31
Mark Twain once noted three varieties of lies in public life: Lies, damn lies, and statistics. In the area of macroeconomics and government, Twain could not have been more right. The statistics kept by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics include unemployment, and this number counts those Americans who are actively seeking employment. As many commentators have noted, when times are really tough, those Americans who have simply stopped looking for a job drop off the statistics, making it artificially appear that the unemployment rate has dropped.
The nominal unemployment rate is still high, but the real jaw-dropping fact is the number of working-age Americans who are not working. Today that is 100,000,000 Americans out of a total population of about 310,000,000. Demographically, about 80,000,000 Americans are minors and about 40,000,000 are age 65 or older. That leaves approximately 190,000,000 Americans who are adults of working age. About half of those do not have a full-time job.
The situation, according to the very statistics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, show an increasingly dismal picture, when the number of people who could be working but are not is counted. In April 2011, the number listed in those statistics as unemployed was 13.8 million. That number actually dropped in February 2012 to 12.8 million, then to 12.7 million in March and 12.5 million in April. The unemployment rate over those four months also declined: 9.0 percent in April 2011, 8.3 percent in February 2012, 8.2 percent in March 2012, and 8.1 percent in April 2012.
When those Not in the labor force are adding to those Unemployed, then those who are not working is growing: 99.5 million in April 2011, 100.3 million in February 2012, 100.5 million in March 2012, and 100.9 million in April 2012. When counting both those Not in the labor force (though in the age in which most Americans work) and Unemployed as a single group, then those who are not working, but are in the age group in which Americans normally work, has remained steady and high: 41.6 percent in April 2011, 41.5 percent in February 2012, 41.5 percent in March 2012, and 41.6 percent in April 2012.
read more The Real Unemployment Rate
Mark Twain once noted three varieties of lies in public life: Lies, damn lies, and statistics. In the area of macroeconomics and government, Twain could not have been more right. The statistics kept by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics include unemployment, and this number counts those Americans who are actively seeking employment. As many commentators have noted, when times are really tough, those Americans who have simply stopped looking for a job drop off the statistics, making it artificially appear that the unemployment rate has dropped.
The nominal unemployment rate is still high, but the real jaw-dropping fact is the number of working-age Americans who are not working. Today that is 100,000,000 Americans out of a total population of about 310,000,000. Demographically, about 80,000,000 Americans are minors and about 40,000,000 are age 65 or older. That leaves approximately 190,000,000 Americans who are adults of working age. About half of those do not have a full-time job.
The situation, according to the very statistics of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, show an increasingly dismal picture, when the number of people who could be working but are not is counted. In April 2011, the number listed in those statistics as unemployed was 13.8 million. That number actually dropped in February 2012 to 12.8 million, then to 12.7 million in March and 12.5 million in April. The unemployment rate over those four months also declined: 9.0 percent in April 2011, 8.3 percent in February 2012, 8.2 percent in March 2012, and 8.1 percent in April 2012.
When those Not in the labor force are adding to those Unemployed, then those who are not working is growing: 99.5 million in April 2011, 100.3 million in February 2012, 100.5 million in March 2012, and 100.9 million in April 2012. When counting both those Not in the labor force (though in the age in which most Americans work) and Unemployed as a single group, then those who are not working, but are in the age group in which Americans normally work, has remained steady and high: 41.6 percent in April 2011, 41.5 percent in February 2012, 41.5 percent in March 2012, and 41.6 percent in April 2012.
read more The Real Unemployment Rate