2/3 of the decline in U3 related to participation rate
U6 remains constant at 13.1%
Posted on 01/10/2014 5:42:52 AM PST by John W
Job creation stumbled in December, with the U.S. economy adding just 74,000 positions even as the Federal Reserve voted to take the first steps in eliminating its stimulus program.
The unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent, below economist estimates and due primarily to continued shrinkage in the labor force. The labor force participation rate tumbled to 62.8 percent, its worst level since January 1978.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
How can the rate drop when fewer than expected jobs are being created?
More funny math.
2/3 of the decline in U3 related to participation rate
U6 remains constant at 13.1%
Hey kids! It’s fun with numbers Friday! 6.7%! ROTFL! That’s 6.7%, PERIOD!!!
More people off the UE system not being counted.
Just arbitrarily reduce the denominator until you get the stats you want.
PS Chocolate rations will be increased to 15 grams per week.
So then let’s use U6 as the number, not U3.
This is silly and everyone knows it.
The unemployment rate has lost all meaning other than as a propaganda tool. The labor force participation rate is far more meaningful and shows the continued spread of a dependency culture with the government fostering programs that encourage sloth in a hundred ways.
What’s really going on out there? The numbers make no sense. We are dropped precipitously to 6.7% with essentially no job growth. The population is growing faster in December than the job increase.
I understand all the discussion we’ve had about people leaving the workforce and/or going to disability...and I get that. but even accounting for that, I don’t see how we could see that kind of drop. In my personal look around, I am not seeing anyone in my friend circle without a job, like a few years ago, but I do know a number of people doing worse than 5 years ago. It is really hard to figure out what’s going on out there with these numbers.
Because more people have given up looking for work and when they do that they are no longer counted as being unemployed. If they gave the rate for people of working age who aren't working the numbers would be a lot different.
It’s silly. The only thing to follow is U6 and the participation rate at this point.
I guess we don’t need to extend the unemployment insurance.
Probably about 19%.
When the measured workforce shrinks and folks are deemed to no longer be “looking for work”, they are no longer counted as “unemployed”.
This is a political lie to improve prospects in the 2014 midterms.
If the denominator declines and the numerator stays flat the percentage declines. That’s the point of the labor force participation rate.
One of the structural issues with the labor force participation rate is demographics. Baby boomers are retiring. The rate has been declining since the late 90’s (i.e. this is nothing new).
There are, of course, issues with job growth that are impacting the participation rate.
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
I am constantly amazed how ‘progressives’ use these figures. On one hand they present an improving economy with 8 million jobs produced, but on the other they have dire predicaments of the unemployment death spiral. Which is it?
Now they go up cause this will slow taper talk.
And December is typically a strong month for job creation with seasonal hires. This is simply pathetic.
What a joke. Terrible news, but the headline will look great to the low-informationers. Obama will crow about this in the State of the Union, but if things are so great, how come we can’t cut extended unemployment benefits, Fed stimulus or have the sequester cuts? Good lord, we are six years into the ‘recovery’’, and the economy still needs life support.
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