The total picture of the raw data (not seasonally adjusted) from the Bureau of Labor Statistics paints a far gloomier picture.
For example, there were in fact, 737,000 fewer employed Americans in January than in December.
While the pool of employed/unemployed Americans (the labor force) increased 112,000, the population increased by 1,685,000, dropping the labor force participation rate to 63.4%, the lowest in 30 years.
The number of unemployed Americans actually increased from 12,692,000 in December to 13,541,000 in January, a net loss of 849,000 jobs, giving an unemployment rate of 8.8%.
The real story behind the numbers is that the labor population grew by nearly 1.7 million and nearly 1.2 million gave up looking for a job.
Check the numbers yourself. http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm
I’m just wondering how people get to “drop out” of the labor force. I mean have these folks decided to stop eating or perhaps decided to camp out in the forest and live off the land?
Presuming they still exist, I think it means they are living off any savings/retirement/insurance funds that they have - to the point they well have nothing for the real elder years. If this demographic is forced to live on SS when they actually can draw the minimum, Obumo will have succeeded in moving part of the middle class to the poor(er) entitlement class.