I don't believe unemployment rate is 6.1%

[lib2DaBone]

... if unemployment isn't at least 12% where I live in Flroida.. I'll eat my hat (w/o salt).


Is there not one fact or figure that George Bush will not lie about? Inflation is 2% if you take out food and gas.... arrgh.... "at last sir, have you no decency?"


http://finance.comcast.net/www/news.html?x=http://76.96.38.13/data/news/2008/10/23/1096198.xml

[SeattleGirl]

1. My answer: No, he doesn't.

He has absolutely no decency.

[ColbertWatcher]

2. I agree, he has no decency. k+r, n/t

[flamin lib]

3. Your estimate of 12% probably isn't too far off.

Back in 2001 or 2002 the administration changed the way unemployment was calculated. Prior to that they used the payroll survey. Number of people receiving a payroll check divided by number of people in the work force gives unemployment. They now use the household survey which interviews a number of households and asks how many people in the house work and then extrapolate to the population at large. Household has 1/6000th the data points and anyone who works, ie children helping out at no wage, sole proprietors who receive no paycheck from a company and part time employees, are all counted as "employed".

Fewer data points and a redefinition of employed.

[cabluedem]

7. Lots of counties in the US have 20% Unemployment Rates...

how can anyone live with that?

[TomClash]

4. Skeptical Economists

have been saying this since the early 80s. IMHO, no question Reagan cooked the UI figures - Bush deepfried them and burnt them to a crisp.

You are spot on.

[fasttense]

5. The U6 is a more accurate measure but...

I still wonder about its accuracy. The U6 published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics is about 11%.

Isn't it interesting that the gubermint so carefully monitors labor statistics and uses it as a basis to determine the health (or lack there of) of the economy, yet does absolutely Nothing to promote labor and labor issues.

[HughBeaumont]

14. The Secretary of Labor is a pro-offshoring former HERITAGE Fellow.

She's also married to that turtle-looking bastard Mitch McConnell.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

6. Those are only the people who are receiving unemployment benefits. When the benefits

run out, they fall off the calculation.

[4lbs]

8. Here in CA, the local paper said it was 7.8% for the state.

n/t

[bulloney]

9. In NW Ohio, it's recently announced that Jeep will cut over 800 jobs in Toledo,

Sypris, an axle plant in Kenton will close and eliminate another 225 jobs. Cooper Tire in Findlay is one of four plants considered by the company to close, which would be another 1,200 jobs if that happens. There may be more that I'm not aware of. That's 2,200 manufacturing jobs within a 40 mile radius of Findlay, Ohio on top of the hundreds of other manufacturing jobs that have been cut in recent months. But the jobless figures will likely show that the local counties will have low unemployment rates.

[B Calm]

10. Where I work they have 50% of our truck drivers on layoff!

[B Calm]

11. Hell they won't even admit that we're in a recession. . .

[KharmaTrain]

12. How It's Calculated....

The government has long cooked the unemployment numbers to make the current President look good. The deck was stacked so growth always was inflated and losses minimized.

For example, you're considered "employed" if you have a part time job...even if you're not making a decent wage or living from it. Also, if you've been unemployed and you're benefits run out, you become a non-person...you're no longer counted as "unemployed".

The figure I always would like to see isn't unemployed as much as under-employed.

[specialed]

13. I'm an economist/accountant/It guy....

And you can add about 2.5% to that figure to hit real national unemployment.

[raccoon]

15. Agree totally, the unemployment figures are understated.

This happens regardless of which party the administration is.