23 million unemployed is an inaccurate statement.

[kentuck]

Romney says this frequently. However, he included people that are working part-time and also people that are estimated to have stopped looking for work. But the statement of 23 million unemployed is not correct. Perhaps he should be corrected?
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http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-fact-check-debate-romney-unemployment-20121003,0,7773454.story

<snip>
There were 12.5 million people officially unemployed, and this is the figure that is used to make up the jobless figure, most recently 8.1%.

There were also about 8 million people who were working part-time in August, although not by their own choice. Some said they couldn’t find full-time work, but most said they were working part-time because of weak business conditions. These workers may be looking for other jobs, or they may be waiting for business to get better and for their employers to give them more hours.

These two groups of people add up to 20.5 million. To get to 23 million, Romney included an additional 2.5 million unemployed people whom the government describes as being “marginally attached” to the labor market. About one-third of these people quit looking for jobs because they became discouraged and didn’t see much hope in the job market. The remaining two-thirds include people who stopped looking for work because of health reasons, transportation issues or other problems.

<snip>
So while 23 million may correctly describe the number of people who are struggling in the job market, it would have been clearer – and more accurate – to say that’s the total unemployed and underemployed.

[porphyrian]

1. . n/t