RE: So does that mean I need to flog my 72 year old parents back into the workforce so we can get that rate lowered?
I don’t even think he is including retirees when he makes his observation.
This is one sentence to consider from the article:
” there are nearly 102 million working age Americans that do not have a job right now. “
Yeah he is. That 102 million figure is obtained by taking the number of people working and subtracting that from the number of people in the work force. Work force is calculated as all people over 16 and not in the military or institutionalized. So yes, that includes people who are retired, like my parents. People who are in school and who choose not to work, like my niece and nephew. People who are unemployed by choice, like stay-at-home parents. You want that 21.5 figure lowered? All those people will have to go to work.