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Didn't they change the way that unemployment is counted? Many people may simply have stopped looking for work. Spouses with children to support and educate, for example.
"...the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counted 4.5 million more people as unemployed in January than were unemployed before the pandemic—and many more people weren’t counted as unemployed because they’d stopped looking for work."
Didn't they change the way that unemployment is counted? Many people may simply have stopped looking for work. Spouses with children to support and educate, for example.
"...the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counted 4.5 million more people as unemployed in January than were unemployed before the pandemic—and many more people weren’t counted as unemployed because they’d stopped looking for work."
I believe that passage refers to the BLS's Employment Level measure. That is the measure from the household survey which asks people if they're employed or not (it's sort-of an alternative measure to the total Payroll jobs measure). Per that link, the high for that statistic was 158,866,000 just prior to the pandemic. It's now at 157,222,000, so about 1.6 million to go.
That was actually a good guess. The high before the pandemic was 152,504,000 jobs in Feb 2020. We're now at 150,399,000.
So, if we average about 500K a month for the next 4 months we'll get there.
These, for the most part, are NOT new jobs but a return to jobs that existed before the pandemic. While we should be happy that things are moving in the right direction, I can't think of any specific Biden policy that has been helpful. If we had opened up earlier in many of the blue states we'd be farther along.
any increase in salary you most likely got, just went into the tank of the wagon queen, and you STILL didnt pick up eggs and bread for the missus.....
Yet many are still working from home- spending way way way less on the commute, the happy hours and the lunch at the deli. The bread and eggs have not increased more than a couple of bucks- if that. Bake your own- lots of sour dough recipes on line and on YouTube.
As I said- there are winners and losers.
I am sorry if you are a loser, but that is not most everyone.
Yet many are still working from home- spending way way way less on the commute, the happy hours and the lunch at the deli. The bread and eggs have not increased more than a couple of bucks- if that. Bake your own- lots of sour dough recipes on line and on YouTube.
As I said- there are winners and losers.
I am sorry if you are a loser, but that is not most everyone.
everyone is paying more.. no one is paying less. textbook defn of "lowered standard of living"
Good posting Bond! People on this forum as so snarky. In the end, people working means your supply chain irons out, and either inflation should go down or growth up.
We can all agree that they stimulused too much and shut down too much, but at least we seem to be climbing out of the hole instead of wallowing in the crater.
Good regardless of whom is in office always glad to here good American economic news. I hope we can keep inflation under control and get the workforce participation level back up.
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