Jobless rate drops to lowest in almost 3 years

msnbc.com ^ | February 3, 2012 | msnbc.com news services

[John W]

The U.S. economy produced another solid month of job gains in January, offering a hopeful sign for hiring in the year ahead.

Employers added a net 243,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department reported Friday. That’s higher than December, when employers added a net 200,000 jobs, and it marked the seventh straight month in which at least 100,000 jobs were created. That hasn't happened since 2005.

The nation’s unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent in January from 8.5 percent in the prior month. The unemployment rate has fallen for the past five months and is now at its lowest level in nearly three years.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Unemployment Definition - Abbott and Costello
COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America .
ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible times. It’s 9%.

COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?
ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%.

COSTELLO: You just said 9%.
ABBOTT: 9% Unemployed.

COSTELLO: Right 9% out of work.
ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%.

COSTELLO: Okay, so it’s 16% unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, that’s 9%...

COSTELLO: Wait a minute. Is it 9% or 16%?
ABBOTT: 9% are unemployed. 16% are out of work.

COSTELLO: IF you are out of work you are unemployed.
ABBOTT: No, you can’t count the “Out of Work” as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.

COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!
ABBOTT: No, you miss my point.

COSTELLO: What point?
ABBOTT: Someone who doesn’t look for work, can’t be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn’t be fair.

COSTELLO: To whom?
ABBOTT: The unemployed.

COSTELLO: But they are ALL out of work.
ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work stopped looking. They gave up. And, if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.

COSTELLO: So if you’re off the unemployment roles, that would count as less unemployment?
ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!

COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don’t look for work?
ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That’s how you get to 9%. Otherwise it would be 16%. You don’t want to read about 16% unemployment do ya?

COSTELLO: That would be frightening.
ABBOTT: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means they’re two ways to bring down the unemployment number?
ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.

COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?
ABBOTT: Correct.
OSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?
ABBOTT: Bingo.

COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to just stop looking for work.
ABBOTT: Now you’re thinking like an economist.

COSTELLO: I don’t even know what the **** I just said!

And now you know why Obama’s unemployment figures are improving!

[Eagle of Liberty]

Will anyone from our side (Rush, Hannity, et al) actually cover this? It's as if we're living in a vacuum.

Not just cover this, but could ALL WHO HAVE LARGE MEGAPHONES GET PISSED OVER THIS?!

[andy58-in-nh]

That's interesting, because I did not think that the BLS readjusted their benchmarks until February or March. In any event, I discovered another interesting little piece of information from digging through the data: only about 10% of the January job increase resulted from full-time employment. The rest was due to a record increase in part-time employment.

Perhaps the BLS ought to be relocated to the Department of Agriculture, because they now seem to specialize in fertilizer production.

[JohnG45]

And you're basing that on what exactly?

Morning and afternoon commute times.

Oh, you ought to notify the BLS that your commute time (which is anecdotal information) has increased. They can then create a new fudge factor to make the Employment number look even better. Maybe they will name the new fudge factor after you?

And you're basing that on what exactly?

I thought you actually looked at some real economic numbers apart from your anecdotal information.

Did you even bother to look at the thread I referred you to earlier? It reported 1.2 million human beings in this country have dropped out of the workforce. But you don't care since they are not on the path of your commute.

[Flint]

Rush just reported that 1.3 million jobs were removed from the private sector. When you have fewer jobs the ratio of jobs to job seekers get better.

Just a simple slight of hand.

[harpu]

Here's some more information that doesn't square with OBozo's "manufactured news!"

[In Maryland]

"when will the GOP stand up and tell everyone when they took control of the congress and regained seats in the senate the jobless rate was 9.9% but has since fallen 1.6%???

I don't think the GOP wants to dignify these "numbers" with any validity by citing them.

Maybe I am naive, but I think the American people know sh*t from shinola and these numbers just serve to increase cynicism about this administration. Who are they going to believe, these numbers of "their own lying eyes"?

I say, the eyes have it.

[kearnyirish2]

“But they lie shamelessly.”

They’re clinging to the old adage: “If you repeat the lie often enough it becomes the truth”. Problem is too many people know too many other people out of work or working part-time; it won’t save the Kenyan Pirate’s re-election bid.

[Chgogal]

“I knew people (here in MA) who said, “I'm doing great! My neighbor is doing great! Even my lazy brother-in-law is doing great! But this sucky economy is the worst since Hoover — I hear that a lot of people are hurting out there. We need to throw out the Republicans who are causing all this damage.”

Today, I think people are saying, “I'm scared. My neighbor just lost his house. My brother-in-law is homeless. I'm just glad the recovery is so strong — I can't imagine how bad things would be if Obama weren't in there making things better. We need to keep the Democrats in power so that the economy stays on track.”

And that is why Obama will be reelected. In general, We the People are THAT stupid.

[Chgogal]

Here is the supporting link. You can pick the time span at the top of the page. Why the hell don’t Santorum and Gingrich use this?

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000

[Anti-Bubba182]

How many have quit looking and are not counted? A GOP Rep asked an OMB Are their more people employed NOW or When Obama took office. Guess the answer.

[rwfromkansas]

We did see some more hiring last month, but the real reason the rate dropped is because so many just left the workforce entirely.

[andy58-in-nh]

Why the hell don’t Santorum and Gingrich use this?

Because they are too busy attacking Romney or each other. What they fail to comprehend is that by making Obama and his criminal syndicate Administration the ONLY focus of their campaigns, they would attract voters away from Romney - and especially from disaffected conservatives on the sidelines - without ever mentioning Mitt's name.

[rwfromkansas]

Agreed.

I am tired of Freepers trying to wish the economy bad for political reasons.

It’s silly.

These are people’s lives we are talking about, not just an election.

Yeah, this will make it harder to beat Obama. But, that’s the GOP’s luck. We ought to be used to thinks getting better just in time for the other side to pull a win.

Even though his policies have made things worse, at some point I think employers will start hiring again pretty much no matter what.

We will see.

[rwfromkansas]

I don’t know who would for sure win. Everybody has a shot, but the economy will have to turn really bad. It’s not great, but it’s better than it was six months ago.

(actually it’s great where I am and has been for a year or more.....oil).

But, oh well.

[Ted Grant]

I agree. No telling what will happen in the next nine months. So see what happens and wish good fortune for all working americans.

[EdReform]

US jobless rate falls, but labor force shrinks (Labor Dept. fudges numbers)

Record 1.2 Million People Fall Out Of Labor Force In One Month

Final Nail In Today's NFP (Economic report) Tragicomedy: Record Surge In Part-Time Workers

[ichabod1]

That hasn’t happened since the year before the rats took control.

[ichabod1]

I’m tired of waiting. I’m loosing my job at the end of this month, so it’s no longer a recession for me, it’s a full-blown depression.

I used to wonder how the US could have been in a recession that dragged on and on and on for an interminable number of years until cured by an inevitable war. Now at least I can see why a depression occurs: It occurs when government enacts policies that won’t ALLOw it to get better.

[manc]

AA laying off thousands
Food lion closing all stores in FL and SE GA
Kodak looking bad and trying to survive but hey the MSM ignores how many dropped out of the work force, how many are now retiring early and I know a few of them etc.

The MSM we all knew was going to do this and boy have they