If the labor force participation rate is 62%, then there is a reasonable argument that can be made for a 38% unemployment rate. If one considers that the ‘labor force’ has arbitrary age limits placed on it by the government (something like 16-65), then it’s fair easy to add another 4% to that 38%.
And just because someone doesn’t want to work, and loves sucking off the public teat, that doesn’t make that person NOT unemployed. He is terribly, deceitfully unemployed.
Let me repeat....there are something like 25% who DO NOT WANT to work NOR NEED to work. The labor participation rate even in boom times is about 70%, not 100%.
There is no case to make that its 38-42%. Are there a few points here and there for the over 65 crowd? Perhaps, but again, 70% is full labor participation, not 100%. Having said that, at 62-63, that means there’s another legit 7-8% that should be added to the BS 5% mark....putting legit UE (U3) at 12-13%. God knows what the U6 would be...certainly over 20.