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WASHINGTON — Surprise: America's discouraged workers are finding jobs — or so it seems. Unanticipated by many economists, this is good news for the country (and, assuming it continues, probably for Democrats this fall). Ever since the Great Recession, economists have worried that the severity and length of the slump would forever consign many workers to the sidelines. Their prolonged disconnect from jobs would corrode their morale, contacts and job skills. For years, the numbers seemed to confirm these fears. The labor-force participation rate — the share of Americans 16 and over with a job or looking for one —...

There were 33,000 more “discouraged workers” in April, according to the latest economic release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. … In April, there were 835,000 discouraged workers, up from 803,000 discouraged workers in March. …

The unemployment rate shot up by half a percentage point in February, according to figures released by the polling organization Gallup on Thursday. The jump from 8.6 percent in January to 9.1 percent last month is the largest month-by-month increase in more than a year, Gallup said. It is the highest rate since August. Gallup’s figures differ from the official government unemployment rate because they do not adjust the figure for seasonal variations or include anyone under 18. ...snip “If the government's unadjusted unemployment rate increases to the degree that Gallup's has from mid-month to mid-month, then the government's seasonally...

Just announced on FoxNews. Discouraged workers

(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. unemployment rate increased in August, according to the Gallup polling company, which surveys approximately 30,000 people each month about their employment status. By Gallup’s calculation, unemployment was 8.8 percent at the end of July and rose to 9.1 percent by the end of August. At the end of June, it was 8.7 percent. Gallup’s unemployment rate differs slightly from the federal government's. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (the federal agency that calculates the government’s official unemployment rate), the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent in July. The BLS is scheduled to report its calculation of...