This is Suppose to be Great News?

[BigSkyBob]

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/record-12-million-people-fall-out-labor-force-one-month-labor-force-participation-rate-tumbles-#comments

The economy is so crappy that in the last month 1.2 million unemployed people gave up even trying to find a job. That's pathetic. That it is spun into a "drop" in unemployment is even more pathetic.

[Politico]

Bob, you are absolutely right. The discouraged workers effect is the only reason why the unemployment rate is coming down. Liberals need to look at Gallup's data to get a real picture of perceptions outside of Washington, DC, with regards to the economy.

Obama said this would be a one-term proposition if the economy did not recover. It is time to collect.

[Napoleon]

Get avatars or get lost, both of you.

[Miles]

Get avatars or get lost, both of you.

[Politico]

Get avatars or get lost, both of you.

One, this thread was moved here from the 2012 forum after I responded. My hackful ways will not be a
part of this particular forum.

Two, do you really want me posting with my Democrat avatar?

[Politico]

Get avatars or get lost, both of you.

 Things are not well,

For you personally? In any case, Bob is long overdue for an avatar.

I am fine, thanks.

Bob is clearly R-MT unless he is a DINO like me. I would bet heavily on the former. You don't have all of the state nicknames memorized?

[Miles]

Ahh! I erased my comment by mistake. My friend Faye on the Predictions thread says that Romney is a Massachusetts moderate and that Gingrich will beat him real good.

[Napoleon]

Get avatars or get lost, both of you.

One, this thread was moved here from the 2012 forum after I responded. My hackful ways will not be a
part of this particular forum.

Two, do you really want me posting with my Democrat avatar?

Yes...

[memphis]

As I stated in another thread, people who are that bad off don't just stop loking for work. Something else is happenning to the American workforce. I'll give you a hint. WWII ended 67 years ago. If you can't put 2 and 2 together, maybe you can get the Hardy Boys on the case.

[Democratic Hawk]

As I stated in another thread, people who are that bad off don't just stop loking for work. Something else is happenning to the American workforce. I'll give you a hint. WWII ended 67 years ago. If you can't put 2 and 2 together, maybe you can get the Hardy Boys on the case.

The post WWII baby boomer generation is fast swelling the ranks of the retired; hence, a lower % economically active

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

As I stated in another thread, people who are that bad off don't just stop loking for work. Something else is happenning to the American workforce. I'll give you a hint. WWII ended 67 years ago. If you can't put 2 and 2 together, maybe you can get the Hardy Boys on the case.

The post WWII baby boomer generation is fast swelling the ranks of the retired; hence, a lower % economically active

Altho this economy is giving them an incentive to retire sooner than they otherwise might have.

[Torie]

I am afraid I am going to have to dump some cold water on the Pub talking points here about the delta function of unemployment in this country. I listened to this economist on the radio say that the unemployment figure including those who are part time employed, but want full time, and those no longer seeking work, is about 80% higher than the published unemployment rate, and that that ratio is pretty constant over time. So if the published rate is 8.3% unemployed, the figure adding the discouraged and underemployed, would be 14.94% (8.3% x  1.80).

So if you want to play this game, you need to look at the changes in both numbers, and in both instances, at the moment, both figures are going down. So the Pub spin here is a dog that just won't hunt, assuming the economist (a conservative one by the way), is right. And he doubts that the COB is right that unemployment, using either measure, is going to bounce back up this year. He thinks it will continue to go down by a tad. We shall see.

[Lief 🗽]

To add to Torie's post, the current U6 unemployment rate as of yesterday (which I assume the economist was talking about) is 15.1%. This is a marked decrease from the September rate of 16.4%.

[Oakvale]

Again, this is nonsense.

1 million people did NOT drop out of the labor force last month.

This is caused by the BLS now using (more accurate) data from the 2010 Census, effective January 2012. The Bureau includes all the changes in one month for simplicity's sake.

To quote,

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[opebo]

I am afraid I am going to have to dump some cold water on the Pub talking points.... the Pub spin here is a dog that just won't hunt....

Kudos to you Torie (and I think there have been a one or two others since these figures came out) - Republican but realistic.  Alas the majority seem to prefer to be in denial.

[BigSkyBob]

Get avatars or get lost, both of you.

Sorry, they don't have a USA avatar.

[BigSkyBob]

I am afraid I am going to have to dump some cold water on the Pub talking points here about the delta function of unemployment in this country. I listened to this economist on the radio say that the unemployment figure including those who are part time employed, but want full time, and those no longer seeking work, is about 80% higher than the published unemployment rate, and that that ratio is pretty constant over time. So if the published rate is 8.3% unemployed, the figure adding the discouraged and underemployed, would be 14.94% (8.3% x  1.80).

So if you want to play this game, you need to look at the changes in both numbers, and in both instances, at the moment, both figures are going down. So the Pub spin here is a dog that just won't hunt, assuming the economist (a conservative one by the way), is right. And he doubts that the COB is right that unemployment, using either measure, is going to bounce back up this year. He thinks it will continue to go down by a tad. We shall see.

They may be fairly steady "over time," but, the numbers show a different picture in the last year. For instance, the "temporary job" category is climbing much faster than the jobs category, as is the part-time job category.