posted 02-03-2015 04:13 PM                  

by Jim Clifton

Here's something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don't know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.

Right now, we're hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is "down" to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. The media loves a comeback story, the White House wants to score political points and Wall Street would like you to stay in the market.

None of them will tell you this: If you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped looking over the past four weeks -- the Department of Labor doesn't count you as unemployed. That's right. While you are as unemployed as one can possibly be, and tragically may never find work again, you are not counted in the figure we see relentlessly in the news -- currently 5.6%. Right now, as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed. Trust me, the vast majority of them aren't throwing parties to toast "falling" unemployment.

There's another reason why the official rate is misleading. Say you're an out-of-work engineer or healthcare worker or construction worker or retail manager: If you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 -- maybe someone pays you to mow their lawn -- you're not officially counted as unemployed in the much-reported 5.6%. Few Americans know this.

Yet another figure of importance that doesn't get much press: those working part time but wanting full-time work. If you have a degree in chemistry or math and are working 10 hours part time because it is all you can find -- in other words, you are severely underemployed -- the government doesn't count you in the 5.6%. Few Americans know this.

There's no other way to say this. The official unemployment rate, which cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a Big Lie.

And it's a lie that has consequences, because the great American dream is to have a good job, and in recent years, America has failed to deliver that dream more than it has at any time in recent memory. A good job is an individual's primary identity, their very self-worth, their dignity -- it establishes the relationship they have with their friends, community and country. When we fail to deliver a good job that fits a citizen's talents, training and experience, we are failing the great American dream.

Gallup defines a good job as 30+ hours per week for an organization that provides a regular paycheck. Right now, the U.S. is delivering at a staggeringly low rate of 44%, which is the number of full-time jobs as a percent of the adult population, 18 years and older. We need that to be 50% and a bare minimum of 10 million new, good jobs to replenish America's middle class.

I hear all the time that "unemployment is greatly reduced, but the people aren't feeling it." When the media, talking heads, the White House and Wall Street start reporting the truth -- the percent of Americans in good jobs; jobs that are full time and real -- then we will quit wondering why Americans aren't "feeling" something that doesn't remotely reflect the reality in their lives. And we will also quit wondering what hollowed out the middle class.

Jim Clifton is Chairman and CEO at Gallup.

posted 02-03-2015 09:09 PM                  

Now that's a twist isn't it?

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Caution: I AM an Armed Infidel!
Make em eat pork!

posted 02-04-2015 10:03 AM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by padroo:
Has the formula to do the calculation for unemployment changed? .

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posted 02-04-2015 10:24 AM                  

Through December, 2014 only 62.70% of eligible American workers were EVEN LOOKING FOR A JOB!.....

The lower this number gets compared to the number of people who actually are working THE LOWER THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE APPEARS....According to this governmental formula we could say that HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT IS CAUSED BY THOSE NASTY OLD PEOPLE WHO WON'T GIVE UP LOOKING FOR A JOB! lol

* The LFPR is where an unemployed person is defined as "a person not currently employed but actively seeking work."

Take a look here:

http://ycharts.com/indicators/labor_force_participation_rate

posted 02-04-2015 08:37 PM                  

And this is good news of the current administration?
Talk about polishing a turd!

Just reflect on that number .....

That's 265,000 "new" jobless claims....weekly!
265,000 people lost a job last week!
At that number That's over 13 million people loosing a job this year!
At that number That's 186 million people claiming loosing a job in 14 years.

That's at 265k ....it's been over 300k usually!

Still think we are in a "recovery"???

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Caution: I AM an Armed Infidel!
Make em eat pork!

posted 02-04-2015 08:43 PM                  

quote:

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Originally posted by Michael Pond:
Have you noticed that the more the government gets involved in our lives, the worst things get!! Do you wonder why the work week will be under 30hrs? Why there will be more part time jobs? Does Obama Care ring a bell? How about the people who create jobs, those rich, small business owners and farmers who will be taxed out of existance so the welfare roles and government can grow! If people in this country want to see what government can do for them, go to a third world country. The fat cats are the government and the rest are poor. No big screens, cell phones, and wondering where their next meal will be.

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“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.”
― Ronald Reagan

“Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.”
― Ronald Reagan
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Caution: I AM an Armed Infidel!
Make em eat pork!

posted 02-05-2015 09:20 AM                  

He's determined to prove old Abe was wrong when he said "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time".

The Pied Piper of government dependency/socialism already has the 47% convinced.....