Disability Claims Are Increasing at a Record Pace Under Biden. Why?

fee.org ^ | 07/24/2023 | Jon Miltimore

[DFG]

Despite the many economic challenges people are facing today, including stubbornly high inflation and 401ks that are still reeling from the worst stock market drop since 2008 , many contend that we’re witnessing the triumph of “Bidenomics.”

The White House has been touting statistics showing 13.2 million jobs have been created during the Biden administration and that the unemployment rate fell to 3.6% in June. Not bad, right?

At least some seem to think so.

“America under President Biden has better employment numbers … than the America of 1984 when President Reagan ran morning in America ads touting the economy,” said Matthew Dowd, a former political strategist for George W. Bush and MSNBC.

The thing about statistics is they can be deceiving — "Lies, damned lies, and statistics," to paraphrase the British statesman Benjamin Disraeli.

A closer look at government data reveals the labor participation rate, which has been declining for decades, is at its lowest in the last 45 years if you exclude the pandemic (more on why in a minute).

How do these data mesh with the White House’s figures, which show 13 million added jobs and an employment rate of 3.6%? The answer is surprisingly simple.

-- snip--

“Disability claims [are] soaring,” economist Peter St. Onge recently tweeted . “A big part of that impressive unemployment rate: if you're living on disability, you're no longer counted.”

[BipolarBob]

Thanks. My omission - my mistake.

[ransomnote]

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/dibStat.html

At the link are disability stats. I see that the numbers don't seem to suggest that it's gotten any easier to apply, or approvals are up. I see that 'terminations' are up (leaving disability for any reason - which would include death).