Shrinking US workforce masks an otherwise sky-high jobless rate

[The Rock]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012...s-111-percent/

If the percentage of adult Americans in the labor force -- that being the total number of people who are employed or looking for work -- were the same as it was during the end of the Bush administration, the April jobless rate would be at 11.1 percent.

That's 3 percentage points higher than the 8.1 percent reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this month.

The agency’s official monthly unemployment number is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed into the number of working-age Americans who either have a job or are looking for one.

However, a statistic known as the "labor force participation rate" is key. That's the percentage of the adult population that is employed or looking for work -- in other words, the labor force. The lower the number, the worse the employment situation.

And it's a figure that's been trending steadily downward over the past decade. The lower number reflects a startling reality -- a smaller share of the working-age population is looking for work.

It was 67.3 percent when George W. Bush took office in 2001, and down to 65.5 percent when President Obama took office in 2009.

The rate was all the way down to 58.4 percent in April 2011 and, after increasing slightly, returned last month again to 58.4 percent, according to the federal government.

Here is the Department of labor chart (click on image for larger):

http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet

[_Abyssinia]

The real unemployment rate is between 11-19%. I can not believe Barack Obama said when the April jobs report came out, 'The unemployment rate ticked down again," the president said in a speech to a raucous and friendly crowd of students at Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Va. "So after the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, our businesses have now created more than 4.2 million new jobs over the last 26 months—more than 1 million jobs in the last six months alone. So that's the good news.'.

It is sad that people cheered and do not seem to be doing fact checking. The only reason the unemployment rate went down 0.1% is because more people dropped out of the workforce. But he seemed to elude that this was because of jobs being created. Shameful.

Obama has not created 4.2 million jobs. Obama's net job growth is negative 2.5 million. That is a 6.7 million job gap between what Obama has claimed and the truth. George Bush netted a positive 1 million jobs and most jobs losses were after Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took control of Congress.

[Jeanne S]

Obama's entire presidency reminds me of the children's story about The Emperor not wearing any clothes.A lot of folks only see (or don't see)what they want .....

[Tigg]

One only need to open their eyes and look around at the devastation. On a recent trip to California, we saw the same things we are seeing in our home town.....closed businesses and stores, shopping malls half vacant, parking lots devoid of cars......even grass and weeds starting to grow between cracks in the concrete. There was a business man who had an uncanny number of accurate predictions regarding the stock market (I cannot remember his name) who years ago said that due to the level of illegal immigration in this country, and the financial fiasco it would help ensue, America would look like a third world country in a few years. We are losing our middle class and I personally know people with young children who are downright scared for their families. I'm no economist, but in no way can I see this country recovering if we keep doing what we're doing. Maybe they want it that way. Remember the Cloward-Piven strategy!

[Tigg]

I found the link I referenced above. Gerald Celente is who I was referring to:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p...t=va&aid=14680

[_Abyssinia]

White House Lied, Jobs Died

http://cnsnews.com/blog/michelle-mal...lied-jobs-died

[EmperorNapoleon]

Originally Posted by _Abyssinia

It is sad that people cheered and do not seem to be doing fact checking. The only reason the unemployment rate went down 0.1% is because more people dropped out of the workforce.

Untrue. 115,000 jobs were created in April and the number of persons marginally attached to the workforce was unchanged.

[_Abyssinia]

Originally Posted by EmperorNapoleon

Untrue. 115,000 jobs were created in April and the number of persons marginally attached to the workforce was unchanged.

Over 340,000 dropped out of the workforce. Millions are out of work.

115,000 jobs is nowhere near enough. 160,000 was expected.

In comparison, at this time in Ronald Reagon's first term he was averaging 300,000 jobs being created from May through October:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/04/news...very/index.htm

[EmperorNapoleon]

Originally Posted by _Abyssinia

Over 340,000 dropped out of the workforce.

Again, untrue. 103,000 dropped out of the workforce not 340,000. And, by the way, I don't feel sorry for people who don't even bother looking for a job.

Originally Posted by _Abyssinia

Millions are out of work.

There's no need for melodrama. When have millions not been out of work?

[wynnejj]

Originally Posted by Tigg

One only need to open their eyes and look around at the devastation.

Amen. My town has changed drastically from a growing community to sheriff's sales right and left.

I visited some relatives in Altoona PA which faired fairly well with Obama stimulus money which did not go unnoticed. They started getting a rash of new citizens from New Jersey because New Jersey case workers were distributing fliers for housing opportunities in Altoona PA.

New Jersey welfare recipients start over in Altoona

It turned out that some welfare case workers in Essex County, N.J., were providing the main telephone number of the Altoona Housing Authority to clients on a flier labeled "Low Income Housing." The flier also included a telephone number for a public housing development in Williamsport.

As a result, hundreds of people in Newark called Altoona and requested housing applications over the past couple of years. Some didn't even know where Altoona was located when they called, said Cheryl Johns, executive director of the Altoona Housing Authority.

[Scott_Lafrance]

Originally Posted by EmperorNapoleon

Again, untrue. 103,000 dropped out of the workforce not 340,000. And, by the way, I don't feel sorry for people who don't even bother looking for a job.



There's no need for melodrama. When have millions not been out of work?

From the BLS, but in April of 2012, 88.8 million Americans were not part of the labor market, up from 86.2 million in April 2011. That is 2.6 million people who stopped looking for work in one year.


Total not in the labor force (in thousands)
April 2011......April 2012
86,248...........88,879

http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea38.htm

[SamH]

Originally Posted by EmperorNapoleon

Again, untrue. 103,000 dropped out of the workforce not 340,000.

Source?


The country needs 125,000 new jobs each month just to employ people entering the workforce.

http://www.brookings.edu/up-front/po...enstone-looney

[Nec5]

This has been a scam for a long time kind of like how they tell us prices have not increased. The average joe is really getting hammered from both sides: government and corporate. They feed off each other.