The numbers are manipulated because the shrinking workforce is not properly factored into the unemployment rate. The workforce has shrunk by some six million jobs since 2007!
Below is some simple math to explain how the numbers are manipulated:
- If there are 100 jobs and 80 are filled, you have a 20% unemployment rate.
- If there are only 90 jobs and the same 80 are filled, you have an 11% unemployment rate.
Sadistically, a shrinking workforce benefits whoever is in the White House.
Here are some more facts about unemployment that you should be aware of:
- The United States is experiencing the longest stretch of high unemployment since The Great Depression
- The official unemployment rate excludes people who want to work but have not searched for a job in the past four weeks. It also excludes those who are working part-time but would prefer full-time work. If both of these populations were counted, the unemployment rate in January would have been about 15%.
- U6 versus U3 employment numbers: When you see the unemployment number reported, dig deeper and understand the difference between the U3 number widely reported by the media and the U6 number (explained in the previous bullet point).
- The share of unemployed people looking for work for more than six months — the long-term unemployed—topped 40% in December 2009 for the first time since 1948.
- Don't let anyone tell you that the jobs environment is improving while, at the same time, we have perpetual weekly initial claims for unemployment benefits at 380,000+.
