Economy Better, but Still Growing Too Slowly Because of Anti-Growth Policy

Heritage Foundation ^ | February 6, 2014 | Curtis S. Dubay and Stephen Moore

[Revel]

That particular comment I made was a bit sarcastic. But not in a what they want and work to achieve sense.

I am sure there is some truth to what you are saying. But I really hope that you don’t believe that the numbers being release to you are accurate un-rigged, non-manipulated ect....

And I trust Household survey numbers as much as I trust a CNN poll. They have never called me or anyone I know. It all starts by hand picking the areas were they call.

[1rudeboy]

I have this sort of conversation here on FR almost once a week. And I’m not going to stop reminding people that you cannot convince someone else that a government figure is false, misleading, or inaccurate by providing information that is false, misleading, and inaccurate.

[Revel]

Just because you may be partly right does not make you wholly right. I still believe that a very large number of those who dropped off EUC are not being counted as unemployed.

[1rudeboy]

And that points to a pet peeve of mine: when something is incorrect, it simply is, despite what you believe. Please pay particular attention to the italicized portion below:

[Unemployment Insurance] figures are not produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Statistics on insured unemployment in the United States are collected as a by-product of UI programs. Workers who lose their jobs and are covered by these programs typically file claims ("initial claims") that serve as notice that they are beginning a period of unemployment. Claimants who qualify for benefits are counted in the insured unemployment figures (as "continued claims"). Data on UI claims are maintained by the Employment and Training Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor, and are available on the Internet at: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims.asp.

These data are not used to measure total unemployment because they exclude several important groups. To begin with, not all workers are covered by UI programs. For example, self-employed workers, unpaid family workers, workers in certain not-for-profit organizations, and several other small (primarily seasonal) worker categories are not covered. In addition, the insured unemployed exclude the following:

• Unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits
• Unemployed workers who have not yet earned benefit rights (such as new entrants or reentrants to the labor force)
• Disqualified workers whose unemployment is considered to have resulted from their own actions rather than from economic conditions; for example, a worker discharged for misconduct on the job
• Otherwise eligible unemployed persons who do not file for benefits

Bureau of Labor Statistics