Ain't No Depression Here
Yep, the new numbers are out. Officially, unemployment is at 9.8%. Unofficially, I calculated it to be 17.0%. Compare this with a more realistic of unemployment during the Great Depression of 9% to 16% and you'll see why I have to hold my nose every time NPR reports, "unemployment is still nowhere as bad as it was during the Great Depression."
Not that anyone cares. No one really cares if the numbers they give are accurate or not so long as they have numbers.
Calculations:
History (workforce and unemployed are in millions of people)
Does it bother anyone other than me that the workforce continues to grow and the number of jobs continues to shrink? Today on Marketfarce they actually used the phrase "jobless recovery," another euphemism for the wealthy gaining even more money at the expense of everyone else.
Just once, I would like to hear the news report that the way unemployment was estimated during the Great Depression isn't comparable to how it is measured now and give an accurate comparison of unemployment rates.
Not that anyone cares. No one really cares if the numbers they give are accurate or not so long as they have numbers.
Calculations:
- 15.1 million unemployed is 9.8% of the workforce. That gives workforce of 154.1 million.
- Include in the unemployed the 9.2 "economic part time" workers (which are considered unemployed for Depression Era estimates) for a total of 24.3 unemployed.
- Include the 2.2 "marginally attached" workers (love the euphemisms) in the workforce and the unemployed giving us 26.5 million unemployed out of 156.3 workers.
- The unemployment rate is now 16.96%
History (workforce and unemployed are in millions of people)
- February:
- official -- workforce: 154.3; unemployed: 12.5; unemployment rate: 8.1%
- unofficial -- workforce: 155.0; unemployed: 21.8; unemployment rate: 14.1%
- official -- workforce: 154.3; unemployed: 12.5; unemployment rate: 8.1%
- July:
- official -- workforce: 154.3; unemployed: 14.5; unemployment rate: 9.4%
- unofficial -- workforce: 155.1; unemployed: 24.1; unemployment rate: 15.5%
- official -- workforce: 154.3; unemployed: 14.5; unemployment rate: 9.4%
- August:
- official -- workforce: 153.6; unemployed: 14.9; unemployment rate: 9.7%
- unofficial -- workforce: 155.9; unemployed: 26.3; unemployment rate: 16.9%
- official -- workforce: 153.6; unemployed: 14.9; unemployment rate: 9.7%
- September:
- official -- workforce: 154.1; unemployed: 15.1; unemployment rate: 9.8%
- unofficial -- workforce: 156.3; unemployed: 26.5; unemployment rate: 17.0%
- official -- workforce: 154.1; unemployed: 15.1; unemployment rate: 9.8%
Does it bother anyone other than me that the workforce continues to grow and the number of jobs continues to shrink? Today on Marketfarce they actually used the phrase "jobless recovery," another euphemism for the wealthy gaining even more money at the expense of everyone else.
Just once, I would like to hear the news report that the way unemployment was estimated during the Great Depression isn't comparable to how it is measured now and give an accurate comparison of unemployment rates.