Unemployed or out of work...

[MVP]

Thought this better here than in the CZ:

THIS IS SO TRUE AND PUTS HUMOR IN REALITY


Credit is due to Barry Levinson

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 who?

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.

COSTELLO: 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 hell I just said!

Now you know why Obama's unemployment figures are improving, and you should be able to understand the State of the Union.

[SF18C]

Small update...it is 8.3% & 15.1%

By the way, did you know the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not count Active Duty Military in any employment roles?


http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate_u6.jsp

[Sarski]

Small update...it is 8.3% & 15.1%

By the way, did you know the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics does not count Active Duty Military in any employment roles?


http://portalseven.com/employment/unemployment_rate_u6.jsp

I wonder if, when, or how they are counted in the roles at EOS?

[Badger52]

Now you know why Obama's unemployment figures are improving, and you should be able to understand the State of the Union.Saw an article yesterday asking (again) for an objective outside entity to ferret this stuff out.

With the ongoing recall effort of current Governor by the "I lost my free ride" crowd, there has been some spinning of "jobs lost" under current Gov in his first year (after 8 of a commie-lookalike). Zero's administration announced 13,000, had to walk it back after scrutiny to about 9,400, then again to only 2,400.

It seems that up until 2010 here the state received Fed $$ assistance to collect & report this stuff and things were generally accurate, although there was 1 year that a Fed office up in Minneapolis called the previous (D) Governor's figures "rosy & smoky."

THEN, after 2010 it appears the G pulled their $$ and said WE will take over reporting your numbers completely for you. So those get massaged at the Fed level. It would be interesting to see what figures get reported by G for states that have a, shall we say, "rogue" Governor versus those that have shower-buddies in office.

The Dept of Workforce Development reports in this state now contain the following footnote:

Cautionary note to users: Revised methodological procedures mandated by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) force individual state estimates of employment into closer alignment with the national estimate. This change results in larger month-to-month employment change for the states and the information reported by DWD.

Bottom Line: Numbers can be made to do all kinds of things, especially by those who can afford to have access to them and who are too often regarded as the authoritative source.