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I am still trying to figure out how if we LOST 20,000 more jobs this past month than we gained. how did the percentage drop from 10.0 to 9.7
something is wrong with the way the government reports this garbage
It is a bogus number. The only data points the government has is the unemployment check being written. Those benefits run out and your dropped from the stats, even if you didn't find a job. It also doesn't take into account all those that work as self employed subcontract labor, and those that owner businesses. even the 16-17% figure is a low estimate, so it doesn't seem as bad as it really is, to the sheepie. We are looking at 22-23% real time unemployment.
There is much more to how this recession has hurt the American worker. Unemployment is just one facet. There are too many working poor. Too many furloughs, cut benefit plans, frozen pensions, cut working hours etc. When you weigh the total package, the average American worker has taken it in the gut. That's why these average hard working Americans get so pissed, when they read about the executives of company's that their government bailed out, getting sweet financial deals. It's like taking it in the gut, while also getting kicked in the tail.
People giving up finding a job and making the unemployment rate drop slightly is hardly cause for celebration.
This is what happened. Nearly a million people simply gave up on the job search, and are thus no longer counted in unemployment figures. There's more to it than the numbers themselves. They are misleading if taken at face value.
This is what happened. Nearly a million people simply gave up on the job search, and are thus no longer counted in unemployment figures. There's more to it than the numbers themselves. They are misleading if taken at face value.
The BLS also does not report extended in this report. They have a separate report for the extended and the media doesn't pick up on this.
This report came out Thursday 2/4 on the extended.
ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/eta20100138.htm - broken link)
snippet:
"States reported 5,632,219 persons claiming EUC (Emergency Unemployment Compensation) benefits for the week ending Jan. 16, an increase of 281,442 from the prior week. There were 1,839,758 claimants in the comparable week in 2009. EUC weekly claims include first, second, third, and fourth tier activity. "
So we have 5.6 mil on EUC for 1/2010
and we had 1.8 mil on EUC for 1/2009. In one year the number of folks on EUC has tripled..yes tripled.
Unfortunately most of the hiring that has happened during the past year has been in the public sector. In other words they are not real jobs. Their wages are paid by the taxpayer rather than profit from doing productive.
Unfortunately most of the hiring that has happened during the past year has been in the public sector. In other words they are not real jobs. Their wages are paid by the taxpayer rather than profit from doing productive.
And this last report now shows temp jobs leading the recovery
52K in temp jobs.
So temp jobs brings down the unemployement numbers.
Restocking inventories brings up the GDP.
We have temporary workers stocking shelves and they call this a recovery ???
It is a bogus number. The only data points the government has is the unemployment check being written. Those benefits run out and your dropped from the stats, even if you didn't find a job. It also doesn't take into account all those that work as self employed subcontract labor, and those that owner businesses. even the 16-17% figure is a low estimate, so it doesn't seem as bad as it really is, to the sheepie. We are looking at 22-23% real time unemployment.
It is strange that they use such a clearly inaccurate mechanism for measuring unemployment.
On the up side, they've always done it that way so at least there's a consistency over time to see that there is some correlation between a drop in their unemployment number and an improvement in the economy.
On the down side, as you point out, it's a bogus actual number.
"The unemployment rate in the U.S. unexpectedly dropped to 9.7 percent in January"
But, how do we lose more jobs, and even seasonally adjust job losses for 2009 by 800,000 and the unemployment rate drops by 0.3%?
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