The Unemployment Rate in the US

The inconvenient truth about the unemployment rate

There are about 28 million working age adults who can’t find work in the ObamaEconomy.


Apparently we had a little fun with the listeners last Friday. My show was a “best of,” and contained some conversation about a previous report on unemployment. Some listeners reveled in telling me that I had the figures all wrong. I’m thrilled we gave these listeners a chance wear the cloak of moral superiority --- right up until they discovered the show was taped. I guess it was enjoyable while it lasted.

Actually, the news was that the rate dropped to 8.3% for the month of January. The ObamaMedia is rejoicing because this is the lowest unemployment level in nearly three years – the last time we saw an unemployment rate at this level was February 2009, right after Dear Ruler took office.

But the ObamaMedia does the public a disservice by stopping right there. There is more to the story. The amplified facts, however, doesn’t fit the ObamaMedia’s agenda of ensuring another four years of Caesar Obammus in the White House.

So what’s the rest of the story, Boortz? Well … I’m going to tell you! The fact is that there is a lot more to the unemployment rate that meets the eye. So here are some inconvenient facts about our unemployment situation.

First .. .did you realize that up until the Obama administration the Labor Department largely depended on state governments for each state’s specific employment statistics? Obama decided that this function should be removed from the states and centralized under his administrative guidance. Now here’s a guy who went from “jobs created” to “jobs created or saved” as he tried to convince the American people that his stimulus plan was working … and now he finds it necessary to put the responsibility of developing unemployment figures in the White House?

In January, 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! This is the largest absolute jump in 'Persons Not In Labor Force' on record...and biggest percentage jump in 30 years. (Zero Hedge). If these people, or a significant portion of them, were in the workforce without jobs the unemployment figure would be higher than 8.3%. So now you’re left with having to figure out whether or not you believe this many people actually said “the hell with it” in one month. Many experts are quite skeptical about this figure.

The report Friday said 12.8 million people remained unemployed – 43% of them for more than six months – and that another 8.2 million part-time workers couldn’t find full-time employment. (LA Times)

With the latest job gains, total payrolls in the nation stand about 5.6 million less than at the start of the recession in late 2007. (LA Times) Our population is growing month by month … yet we now have 5.6 million fewer jobs? Does this sound like a successful presidency?

If the size of the U.S. labor force as a share of the total population – people with jobs and people trying to find jobs -- was the same as it was when Barack Obama took office—65.7 percent then vs. 63.7 percent today—the U-3 unemployment rate would be 11.0 percent . (James Pethokoukis)

Just to put that in perspective, this means that since Obama too office, approximately 4.7 million people are no longer being counted towards the unemployment rate.

But let’s not go all the way back to January 2009. In January 2011, the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent with a participation rate of 64.2 percent. If that were the participation rate today, the unemployment rate would be 8.9 percent, instead of 8.3 percent. As an analysis from Hamilton Place Strategies concludes, “Most of the shift of the past year is due not to the improvement in the labor market, but the continued drop in participation in the labor force.” (James Pethokoukis)

Then there’s the broader, U-6 measure of unemployment which includes the discouraged plus part-timers who wish they had full time work. That unemployment rate is still a sky-high 15.1 percent. (James Pethokoukis)

So if you add up the number of people who are actually unemployed in the ObamaEconomy (12.7 million), the 4.7 million who have given up and dropped out of the labor force and then those who are underemployed, can’t find full-time work (10.5 million) …this means that there are about 28 million working age adults who can’t find work in the ObamaEconomy.

Like I said, don’t depend on the ObamaMedia to report these facts. But the fact is that Obama’s “success” is built upon the struggles of Americans who have given up or frustrated in the current economy.

By Neal Boortz