That is what the jobs numbers just released show (emphasis mine):
Is this another "breakthrough month"? Still talking about "Barack Obama Deficit-Slayer"?Employers cut 125,000 jobs last month, the most since last October, the Labor Department said Friday. The loss was driven by the end of 225,000 temporary census jobs. Businesses added a net total of 83,000 workers, an improvement from May. But that's also below March and April totals.
The nation has 7.9 million fewer private payroll jobs than it did when the recession began.
Analysts expected private payrolls to rise by about 110,000, according to Thomson Reuters. The report indicates that businesses are still reluctant to hire as the economy slowly recovers form the worst recession since the 1930s.
The unemployment rate fell as 652,000 people gave up on their job searches and left the labor force. People who are no longer looking for work aren't counted as unemployed.
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I just don't understand how, if the private sector lost that many jobs, stayed statistically flat in job creation, and the government produced few jobs, just how does the unemployment rate go down?! I get that there are nearly 3/4 of a million who "stopped looking" - should that not be factored in to reflect the reality of the job market?
ReplyDeleteThese numbers have to have been cooked. My prediction: they will be revised upward quietly, when it is not politically "hot" to do so, and the truth - the real numbers - won't be publicized. Cynical? Perhaps. But we've seen this before with quarterly stats, so I believe this is a non-reality, political propaganda statistic.
Even the media is starting to notice.
ReplyDeleteGranted it took them nearly forever to start reporting.
Then there are people (like me) who are self-employed and are not subject to the numbers whether we're successfully earning money or not. The self-employed are the "dark matter" in the universe of employment. Once somebody takes it into their head to look at those numbers it will be shocking.
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I'm weathering the economic storm, but MANY have simply gone away. Many more have left the US and now work outside the country.
Again, those are not statistics that are taken into account.
(If you want to help my economy, buy my book WHITE POWDER: A Novel of the CIA and the Secret War in Laos, available on Amazon.com)
The official unemployment rate went down because those on welfare, disability or their parent's money don't count.
ReplyDeleteI think they only count those signing up or collecting unemployment benefits. When you exhaust your benefits, you use savings or look to work for cash, or sign up for welfare (according to a friend who works in social services in Michigan, that is what is happening), or move in with parents. You send your 19 year old to the welfare department to claim homelessness to collect bridge cards.
We have never had so many people soliciting our business to do yardwork, or other miscellaneous work, most not formally organized as a business.
As I said before, not extending unemployment compensation is probably a good thing for Dems.
I think the states budgets in medicaid, food stamps and welfare combined with higher demands on private charities (combined with less income) should tell more of a complete picture.
Does it not seem illogical for the president to be advocating legalization of illegal immigrants when we can't employ our citizens? Where is the media that should be pointing this out?
ReplyDeleteJust saying.
I recall that that this accounting method was first introduced to the Federal Government during the Reagan Administration and has continued since.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand, what "they stopped looking" means. How do they know what someone is thinking? Or why they don't have a job? How does the government tally up all the 200k people that are being let go of unemployment and are now, not being tracked anywhere? How do they keep track of them? If the 200k every week are left out, where do they go?
ReplyDeleteClearly, the only value inherent in government statistics is the employment of statisticians; in large numbers.
ReplyDeleteJust as the secondary purpose of our tax system is to guarantee employment for large numbers of accountants and lawyers; as well as to provide safe havens for those who can afford the aforementioned accountants and lawyers. The primary purpose is, of course, to give politicians the ability to buy votes with others' money by spreading wealth to specific classes of citizens.