More on unemployment

A report in the Weekly Standard today points out that "since January 2009, for every person added to the labor force, 10 have been added to those not in the labor force".  The data used to calculate this ratio come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the same reference used for the unemployment rate that we've discussed often over the past year or two;  so even though the source of the report is Republican, the underlying numbers are the same used for all official calculations.  In round numbers, 827,000 people have been added to the workforce since January 2009 - but 8,208,000 have been added to the ranks of the unemployed.

What this means is that official calculations of the so-called 'unemployment rate' are basically meaningless.  Unless and until the economy can provide sufficient jobs to re-employ those who've been unable to find work, and are now no longer officially counted as unemployed, and can also provide enough jobs to cater for the entry into the workforce of a new generation of job-seekers . . . we're still in deep trouble, with no way out visible at this time.

Don't believe or trust any politician (or wannabe politician) who tells you otherwise.

Peter