[upchuck]

And the lawyers many of those 230,000 will use to get on a lifetime supply of SSI money are laughing all the way to the bank.

Of note from the article:

Since August, the national unemployment rate has dropped to 8.1 percent from 9.1 percent, but most of that improvement is because discouraged workers have stopped looking for jobs.

Add in these 230K and the "unemployment rate" will likely drop below 8%. As I recall the actual rate is somewhere around 11%.

[khelus]

There are two sources of information published by the BLS on employment. Figuring out what bits of information goes where can be confusing. The way the media reports on unemployment does not help.

I. Household Survey Data

The unemployment rate is based upon a survey of 60,000 households, not the number of people collecting unemployment.

Many recognize the Household Survey Data are more accurate representation of employment/unemployment than the Payroll Survey, but you have to look past the seasonally adjusted U-3 number to tease out information.

The main sources of 'enhancing' the unemployment rate are moving people out of the civilian work force, and seasonal adjustments. Currently there are 6,366,000 people who are not counted in the civilian labor force, but want a job.

II. Establishment Survey Data / Payroll Data

OTH, the number of jobs created is based upon a survey of employers. The payroll numbers are revised for at least two month after they are published.

The number collecting unemployment is used for the annual benchmark revision of numbers in the payroll survey.

The main sources of 'enhancing' the number of jobs created is the black box through which raw numbers are processed. The black box consists of the birth and death model and seasonal adjustment.

The payroll survey counts the number of jobs, part time and full time, not the number of people working.