Free Republic

You may remember all the glowing predictions made for the December 2017 tax cuts by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration: Wages would soar for the rank-and-file, corporate investments would surge, and the cuts would pay for themselves. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service has just published a deep dive into the economic impact of the cuts in their first year, and emerges from the water with a different picture. The CRS finds that the cuts have had virtually no effect on wages, haven’t contributed to a surge in investment, and haven’t come close to paying for themselves. Nor have they...

There’s no question that this administration has lost all legitimacy and the stench of their numerous scandals is beginning to reach even the loftiest of America’s elites Last week Gallup CEO Jim Clifton took issue with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) claim that unemployment in America was now hovering somewhere in the vicinity of 5.6%. Clifton said these numbers were “totally misleading” and maintains that the real percentage of unemployed Americans is closer to double the BLS figure. Apparently the BLS counts someone who is working two or three hours per week as employed. They do not count as...

Outside of the federal government's Bureau of Labor statistics, the Gallup polling organization also tracks the nation's unemployment rate.

Look what we have here! The unemployment rate decreased to 7.8 percent in September, and total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 114,000, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in health care and in transportation and warehousing but changed little in most other major industries. This is rather amusing; +114,000 is fewer than the working-age population growth in the household survey (206,000) and yet unemployment decreased. Huh? The household survey's unadjusted numbers, however, show some rather interesting figures, none of which make sense. "Not in labor force" increased by 386,000 while "employed" increased by 775,000 a net...

July was a poor month for job creation in the United States. July was an excellent month for job creation in the United States. That tale of two employment reports is true, and it continues a trend that has persisted for two and a half years. The discrepancies have made it possible for Republicans to herald a job recovery and for Democrats to deny one exists. Both sets of statistics were issued by the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics, but they come from very different surveys. One, the establishment survey, which questions 160,000 employers, paints the bleak picture. The other,...

Discouragement over job prospects in thousands... Note the Clinton year highs vs. Dubyas.... also note, there are more employment age people today than at that time. Series Id:                       LNU05026645Not Seasonally AdjustedSeries title:                    (Unadj) Not in Labor Force, Searched For Work and Available,                                 Discouraged Reasons For Not Currently LookingLabor force status:              Not in labor forceType of data:                    Number in thousandsAge:                             16 years and overJob desires/not in labor force:  Want a job nowReasons not in labor force:      Discouragement over job prospects (Persons who believe no job is                                 available.) Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual 1994 600 489 533 502 436 532...