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Typically, I try to tie the beginning of Wonkbook to the news. But today, the most important sentence isn't a report on something that just happened, but a fresh look at something that's been happening for the last three years. In particular, it's this sentence by the Financial Times' Ed Luce, who writes, "According to government statistics, if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 percent."
Remember that the unemployment rate is not "how many people don't have jobs?", but "how many people don't have jobs and are actively looking for them?" Let's say you've been looking fruitlessly for five months and realize you've exhausted every job listing in your area. Discouraged, you stop looking, at least for the moment. According to the government, you're no longer unemployed. Congratulations?
Since 2007, the percent of the population that either has a job or is actively looking for one has fallen from 62.7 percent to 58.5 percent. That's millions of workers leaving the workforce, and it's not because they've become sick or old or infirm. It's because they can't find a job, and so they've stopped trying. That's where Luce's calculation comes from. If 62.7 percent of the country was still counted as in the workforce, unemployment would be 11 percent. In that sense, the real unemployment rate -- the apples-to-apples unemployment rate -- is probably 11 percent. And the real un- and underemployed rate -- the so-called "U6" -- is near 20 percent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezr ... _blog.html
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FredHayek wrote: Good to see this honesty from the other side. Part of the "Draft Hillary" campaign?
DNC chair: Unemployment didn’t go up under Obama!
[/youtube:1s0dddxn]
Denial — it ain’t just a river in Egypt. Appearing on Fox News this morning, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisted that unemployment didn’t go up in Barack Obama’s term of office, a hilarious argument on several levels. Debbie Downer then lectures Gretchen Carlson that “your narrative doesn’t work any longer,” to which a bemused Carlson responds that she’s just relating the facts:
[youtube:1s0dddxn]
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/12/12/d ... der-obama/
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The Liberals GOP Twin wrote: And here is the dishonesty coming from the other side. You can't win if you don't lie. Presenting Debbie Wasaman Schultz
DNC chair: Unemployment didn’t go up under Obama!
[/youtube:2zholzpc]
Denial — it ain’t just a river in Egypt. Appearing on Fox News this morning, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisted that unemployment didn’t go up in Barack Obama’s term of office, a hilarious argument on several levels. Debbie Downer then lectures Gretchen Carlson that “your narrative doesn’t work any longer,” to which a bemused Carlson responds that she’s just relating the facts:
[youtube:2zholzpc]
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/12/12/d ... der-obama/
Debbie... your stupid is showing.
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OmniScience wrote:
The Liberals GOP Twin wrote: And here is the dishonesty coming from the other side. You can't win if you don't lie. Presenting Debbie Wasaman Schultz
DNC chair: Unemployment didn’t go up under Obama!
[/youtube:292d7a3e]
Denial — it ain’t just a river in Egypt. Appearing on Fox News this morning, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisted that unemployment didn’t go up in Barack Obama’s term of office, a hilarious argument on several levels. Debbie Downer then lectures Gretchen Carlson that “your narrative doesn’t work any longer,” to which a bemused Carlson responds that she’s just relating the facts:
[youtube:292d7a3e]
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/12/12/d ... der-obama/
Debbie... your stupid is showing.
You beat me to it.... The woman is nuttier than a squirrel turd. Remember her 'Republicans want Jim Crow laws' crap?
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That's what I was thinking too, she reminds me of Bachmann only she's so bitter and angry, I don't think I've ever seen her crack a smile.FredHayek wrote: The Dems need to realize Wasserman needs to be muzzled. She is an awful spokesman, bordering on Bachmann crazy.
lol Maybe Fox puts her on only for laughs?
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The Liberals GOP Twin wrote: Propaganda from that far right-wing rag... The Washington Post.
Typically, I try to tie the beginning of Wonkbook to the news. But today, the most important sentence isn't a report on something that just happened, but a fresh look at something that's been happening for the last three years. In particular, it's this sentence by the Financial Times' Ed Luce, who writes, "According to government statistics, if the same number of people were seeking work today as in 2007, the jobless rate would be 11 percent."
Remember that the unemployment rate is not "how many people don't have jobs?", but "how many people don't have jobs and are actively looking for them?" Let's say you've been looking fruitlessly for five months and realize you've exhausted every job listing in your area. Discouraged, you stop looking, at least for the moment. According to the government, you're no longer unemployed. Congratulations?
Since 2007, the percent of the population that either has a job or is actively looking for one has fallen from 62.7 percent to 58.5 percent. That's millions of workers leaving the workforce, and it's not because they've become sick or old or infirm. It's because they can't find a job, and so they've stopped trying. That's where Luce's calculation comes from. If 62.7 percent of the country was still counted as in the workforce, unemployment would be 11 percent. In that sense, the real unemployment rate -- the apples-to-apples unemployment rate -- is probably 11 percent. And the real un- and underemployed rate -- the so-called "U6" -- is near 20 percent.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezr ... _blog.html
Wow... someone from the political left HONESTLY[/b] reporting about unemployment. Ezra Klein ( Ezra Klein (born May 9, 1984) is a liberal[1] American blogger and columnist for The Washington Post, ) must be doing penance for that unethical JournoList that he create.
Now... I wonder if someone will write an article giving us the real numbers on inflation (has your price of coffee gone up lately)
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The Liberals GOP Twin wrote:
FredHayek wrote: Good to see this honesty from the other side. Part of the "Draft Hillary" campaign?
And here is the dishonesty coming from the other side. You can't win if you don't lie. Presenting Debbie Wasaman Schultz
DNC chair: Unemployment didn’t go up under Obama!
[/youtube:3rn2go4e]
Denial — it ain’t just a river in Egypt. Appearing on Fox News this morning, DNC chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz insisted that unemployment didn’t go up in Barack Obama’s term of office, a hilarious argument on several levels. Debbie Downer then lectures Gretchen Carlson that “your narrative doesn’t work any longer,” to which a bemused Carlson responds that she’s just relating the facts:
[youtube:3rn2go4e]
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/12/12/d ... der-obama/
Debbie... your stupid is showing.
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