If Everybody Dropped Out Of The Labor Force...

 

 

... The Unemployment Rate Would Be Zero

From Economy Adds Only 74,000 Jobs In December; Jobless Rate At 6.7 Percent—

There were only 74,000 jobs added to public and private payrolls in December, but the unemployment rate fell to a 5-year low 6.7 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday morning.

It was a report that included several surprises for economists and raised questions about just how strong — or not — the labor market was as 2013 came to a close...

To understand what's going on, it's important to dig into the data behind the unemployment rate. According to BLS, there were 347,000 fewer people in the "civilian labor force" last month than there were in November. That group includes both those who have jobs and those who say they're looking for work.

Meanwhile, BLS says that 143,000 more people — a subset of the total labor force — reported they were working. When the total size of the labor force shrinks, but more people say they've got jobs, that brings the unemployment rate down.

A key issue: Why were there fewer people in the labor force? According to BLS, 917,000 individuals were classified as "discouraged workers" last month. That was up by 155,000 from November. Discouraged workers are those who would like to have jobs, but have given up looking for work because they don't think they can find any.

I don't exist when you don't see me

 

Comments

[Oliver]

BLS - or BuLlShit as it's better known - is a crock of... um... BLS. They even claimed there was full employment in the Garden of Eden, despite the truth that Adam sat around scratching his balls while Eve was busy entertaining someone else's snake.

So whether they say up is down, or down is up, or whether they call me encouraged just because I have a crap low-paying job, I wouldn't trust their numbers if they showed me 2 apples and 3 oranges and told me they added up to five seasonally adjusted pieces of fruit.