Official: Total Unemployed at 16.2 Percent

Townhall.com ^ | November 6, 2011 | Mike Shedlock

[Kaslin]

Yahoo!Finance reports Most of the unemployed no longer receive benefits

Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent -- a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more.

Congress is expected to decide by year's end whether to continue providing emergency unemployment benefits for up to 99 weeks in the hardest-hit states. If the emergency benefits expire, the proportion of the unemployed receiving aid would fall further.

Congress has extended the program nine times. But it might balk at the $45 billion cost. It will be the first time the Republican-led House will vote on the issue.

Average Unemployment Duration



Extending the program will not do any good for those who have already used up 99 weeks. The maximum is still 99 weeks. At the state level, the number of weeks varies.

Participation Rate



The participation rate is the percentage of working-age persons in an economy who are employed (or unemployed and actively seeking a job).

Demographics (the aging workforce) affects the number, as does those going to college (or staying in college) because they cannot find a job. Those in school and not working are not considered unemployed as they are not part of the work force.

Interestingly, if the students (or anyone else) work as little as 1 paid hour per week, they are considered employed.

I believe a significant number of those who do use up all their unemployment benefits drop out of the labor force to collect retirement benefits. Such persons want a job but stop looking and go on early retirement just to have some money coming in.

There are no official statistics on the early retirement idea that I just stated.

The falling participation rate and the not counting as unemployed of those who want a job but gave up looking for jobs out of frustration has artificially suppressed the reported unemployment rate.

Table A-15

Table A-15 of the monthly jobs report is where one can find a better approximation of what the unemployment rate really is.



The official unemployment rate is 9.0%. However, if you start counting all the people that want a job but gave up, all the people with part-time jobs that want a full-time job, all the people who dropped off the unemployment rolls because their unemployment benefits ran out, etc., you get a closer picture of what the unemployment rate is. That number is in the last row labeled U-6.

While the "official" unemployment rate is an unacceptable 9.0%, U-6 is much higher at 16.2%.

For more details of the latest jobs numbers, please see US Payrolls Rise by 80,000, Unemployment Rate Drops .1% to 9%; Recap and Analysis

[omega4179]

Barry has driven this country into a ditch with regulation and talking down achievement. This is entirely the Obama/Pelosi Depression. Only a complete change in leadership can pull the country out of a ditch.

[bgill]

Hey, now. The admin just told us the unemployment rates were decreasing and we’re recovering. They wouldn’t lie.

obligatory /s

[oldbrowser]

And those are just the “official” numbers.

[Texas Fossil]

[bmwcyle]

This is only one of the many hidden truths from our demon government.

[Nachum]

The list, ping

Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list

http://www.nachumlist.com/

[harpu]

And some wonder why OBozo doesn’t want ‘the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’ reported in the news!?!

[CowboyJay]

Excellent post as usual, Kas. Thanks for taking the extra time to post up the graphics. It’s the participation rate that tells the real story. The jobs picture in this country has been in continual decline since at least 2000. If our government reported metrics in any kind of honest way, it would show that our real economic output and wages have also been in decline for most of that same time period.

In absolute terms, this is not as bad as the Great Depression, but in terms of the amplitude and length of the downturn it may already be worse.

[OrangeHoof]

I’m now out of a job again - third time in the past year.

Haven’t asked for unemployment this time yet so I probably don’t show up in any of their numbers.

[LomanBill]

>>Extending the program will not do any good for those who have already used up 99 weeks.

 

 

 

Rule number 1: Cardio...

 

 

[the invisib1e hand]

people working part time are not unemployed.

you'd think any person with enough gray matter to read a sentence would understand this.

[FreeAtlanta]

Where did the missing workers go?

[rabscuttle385]

LOL

[algernonpj]

Excellent post as usual, Kas. Thanks for taking the extra time to post up the graphics. It’s the participation rate that tells the real story. The jobs picture in this country has been in continual decline since at least 2000. If our government reported metrics in any kind of honest way, it would show that our real economic output and wages have also been in decline for most of that same time period.

In absolute terms, this is not as bad as the Great Depression, but in terms of the amplitude and length of the downturn it may already be worse.

[CowboyJay]

If you index to any kind of fungible commodity, the picture gets alot clearer (and more unsettling).

[gonzo]

Industrial strength

for later read .................. FRegards

[GOPJ]

Thanks for the ping.

[RipSawyer]

People working part time may not be unemployed but they are not fully employed either. If one out of ten workers are laid off then the official story is ten percent unemployment but if all keep a job but are cut from forty hours to 36 hours weekly then the official story is NO unemployment. Obviously that is misleading. If everyone kept a job but had their hours cut in half would that be no unemployment or fifty percent unemployment? I say it would be the same as fifty percent unemployment.

[ballplayer]

I guess we now know why the unemployment rate dropped to 9%. More people not being counted,