[sarcasm]

Annual average unemployment rate, civilian labor force 16 years and over

Year	Ann Avg
1948	3.8
1949	5.9
1950	5.3
1951	3.3
1952	3.0
1953	2.9
1954	5.5
1955	4.4
1956	4.1
1957	4.3
1958	6.8
1959	5.5
1960	5.5
1961	6.7
1962	5.5
1963	5.7
1964	5.2
1965	4.5
1966	3.8
1967	3.8
1968	3.6
1969	3.5
1970	4.9
1971	5.9
1972	5.6
1973	4.9
1974	5.6
1975	8.5
1976	7.7
1977	7.1
1978	6.1
1979	5.8
1980	7.1
1981	7.6
1982	9.7
1983	9.6
1984	7.5
1985	7.2
1986	7.0
1987	6.2
1988	5.5
1989	5.3
1990	5.6
1991	6.8
1992	7.5
1993	6.9
1994	6.1
1995	5.6
1996	5.4
1997	4.9
1998	4.5
1999	4.2
2000	4.0
2001	4.7
2002	5.8

 

[FITZ]

Does that chart take into account some of the manipulations in reporting unemployment? The Clinton administration changed the way those figures were to be reported so that if someone works just a part-time job with a few hours, they are considered unemployed. You can make $500 a month, be living in government subsidized housing, get your food stamps, Medicaid, etc and be counted as employed. Plus those numbers never count the permanent welfare class and I doubt they count the NAFTA displaced workers because the government has them in "job retraining" programs.