I was getting the latest U.S. unemployment figures for a project, and rather than use news reports I went straight to the source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics. The first quick scan seemed to indicate an unemployment rate of 5.0 percent.
But then I actually read the report.
That 5.0-percent figure, which is what most newspapers will, incorrectly, cite, is based on there being 7.63 million unemployed people.
But you have to read past the top of the report. Because that figure doesn’t include some very important people: so-called “marginally attached workers.”
Who are they? They are, the BLS says, “persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past.”
They include people who have run out of unemployment benefits (“discouraged workers”) and those who “want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule.”
So that 5.0 percent figure only counts people who are getting unemployment benefits. When your benefits run out, you’re not considered unemployed.
Thankfully, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also gives the actual unemployment numbers (albeit in an easy-to-miss addendum to the monthly labor report called “Alternative measures of labor underutilization“).
The actual unemployment rate in the United States in April 2008 was 9.2 percent.
Something worth thinking about.
The Fray
gnomic says:
This has been the case for at least 20 years as I remember talking about the in my undergrad econ class. Its like the deficit number. And most other numbers that the government issues.
Most of us would call these numbers outright lies. And they would be right.
But the number is somewhat relative, so even though its is wrong by about 90%, it still indicates a weakening economy. I’ve been thinking a lot about this for the last month and studying a lot of the numbers. I don’t want to say the sky is falling, but the next 20 years are going to look bad and there is a high likelihood of a depression unless we find a way to kick start our economy and get out from under all this war debt that this republican economy has generated.
Seriously, folks. I’m not a doomsayer. But the numbers look really, really bad. Mostly due to massive personal and governmental debt, trade imbalance, growing energy prices, aging population, entitlements, and global competition for resources.
We’re almost certainly in for food and energy shortages, a drop in lifespan (mostly due to drug shortages and an overloaded medical system), inflation, and shortages in anything we import. Scenarios show a likely 3-5 year “soft” depression that is worse than the late 70s but not as bad as the 30’s. After that, things start to stabilize, but most of us aren’t better off. Look for more people per household as grandparents move in and families consolidate to gain cost savings.
The real question is what will our economy be based on? We have lost manufacturing, and are losing financial and research leads. Without some national competitive advantage, we will become like post-imperial Briton (albeit with a lot less class).
These by the way aren’t the worse case scenarios – they don’t include terrorism, natural disasters, and global warming. These are simply based on economic and population trends.
Personally, I think we should burn republicans for warmth.
dkraft says:
Gee, do you think this would include the unemployed, ILLEGALS too ?
Try pulling your head out of the sand or wherever its losing oxygen and do what is RIGHT, not just what is COMFORTABLE.
Stop taxing the “rich” and sternly warn the unemployed to get a damn job.
gnomic says:
Illegals Just another distraction tactic, like gays, abortion, and other nastiness. Despite the manufactured statistics, most illegals are more law abiding than US citizens. And without them working, who do you think is going to pay for all this war debt? Certainly not natural born Americans who can’t afford to have kids and maintain a decent standard of living.
I’m all for telling people to get a job. Why don’t all those lazy people run right out and fill those positions as engineers, doctors, scientists… oh, wait. Education hasn’t been affordable, daycare hasn’t been affordable, health care hasn’t been affordable….
Jesse James was once asked why he robbed banks. “Because that’s where the money is” he replied. When 90% or more of the wealth is in 5% of peoples hands, you can’t tax the poor and middle class enough to pay for all the subsidies that are given to the rich.
I’m absolutely in favor of not taking of not redistributing wealth through the tax system. But don’t expect me to support that until we quit giving tax dollars to companies that don’t need it while kids go without food and health care.
gnomic says:
On my way into work today, NPR was talking about inflation, which is currently at 5%. But the calculation doesn’t include food or energy and when you include these numbers inflation is over 10%. Just another example of your government lying to you.
Randy says:
I find it especially odd that while war is normally good for an economy, there has been only one war in US history which has been accompanied by a very bad economy and only one war which has seen significant tax cuts while the war was still ongoing. Support or oppose wars, they historically improve the economy as more people are pulled into the workplace to support the troops with goods and services necessary to keep our military functioning.
Also – LOL inferences that unemployed illegals are causing the numbers.
Chuck Staples says:
“Personally, I think we should burn republicans for warmth.”
Why? We get enough hot air and excrement from Dems, too. It is too bad we didn’t learn from the Kennedy-Johnson era in Vietnam. It shows idiocy doesn’t descriminate.
Education isn’t affordable? Bull crap, try a public university. A private one was beyond my means and I attended a decent public one. I do more than OK for myself as an engineer. Had very minimal debt when I graduated.
Andrew says:
>Why? We get enough hot air and
>excrement from Dems, too.
Amen, brother.
You know who I want for President? The CEO of Costco. I don’t know his name or what party he is, or even how he feels about a lot of the issues, but I know from the company’s policies toward workers and toward profit that he knows how to strike a balance.
[sigh]
gnomic says:
I’m all for burning the Dems for warmth too. I think the GOP has been criminal, but the DEMs have been criminally stupid – something that we are likley to find out once this criminal administration is ousted.
I teach about Costco in my business class; I think the guy has done a great job. Not sure if the model translates to public management, but he couldn’t mess it up any more than the current crop of idiots. Giving farmers that are making record profits subsidies to generate the least useful biofuel is criminally stupid.
Randy says:
>You know who I want for President? The CEO of Costco.
Best idea I’ve heard in a while.
Dataset of the Day: International Unemployment | Off the Map - Official Blog of FortiusOne says:
[...] data is based on self reporting from each country, figures may be inflated or deflated, such as the case of the U.S. It is important to note that this data does not represent unemployment in poorer countries where [...]
Reminder to self « Meh Culpa says:
[...] Had I been in Congress last fall, I probably would have voted against TARP because it rewarded the wealthy and the powerful at the expense of the regular people getting screwed. From my point of view, helping distressed homeowners was the only reason to vote for TARP at all. Although some people blamed those homeowners for not living up to their responsibilities, not all buyers understood what they were getting into. Many consumers didn’t have the education or they were defrauded by unscrupulous lenders like Countrywide or they simply lost their jobs. (The actual rate of unemployment was 9.2% in April 2008.) [...]
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