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View Full Version : Is The New Unemployment Rate Actually Double?



Kathianne
08-05-2024, 10:43 AM
Is that more of an explanation of what is going on with the markets?

The Real Clear link is covered as explained in the post below:

https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/08/05/i-just-learned-the-real-unemployment-rate-and-it-sucks-n4931352


I Just Learned the REAL Unemployment Rate, and It Sucks
Stephen Green (https://pjmedia.com/author/vodkapundit) | 9:15 AM on August 05, 2024







(?subject=I%20Just%20Learned%20the%20REAL%20Unempl oyment%20Rate,%20and%20It%20Sucks&body=I%20Just%20Learned%20the%20REAL%20Unemploymen t%20Rate,%20and%20It%20Sucks%20https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/08/05/i-just-learned-the-real-unemployment-rate-and-it-sucks-n4931352)
(https://pjmedia.com/vodkapundit/2024/08/05/i-just-learned-the-real-unemployment-rate-and-it-sucks-n4931352#thm-comments-bookmark)

https://media.townhall.com/cdn/hodl/2019/364/fc598496-81fd-4598-8ce3-9b67d8e12c9f-1052x615.jpgAP Photo
There are lies, damned lies, and government statistics — and maybe none is more damnable than the official unemployment rate which is half the actual rate, according to Rasmussen. Worse, the number of Americans who are neither retired nor employed is more than four times higher than July's official rate of 4.3%.

I've been writing for months now in quick-hit Instapundit items that this country has been in a jobs recession since the COVID lockdowns and, thanks to Bidenomics, never recovered from. Well, the latest Rasmussen unemployment survey (https://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/indexes/rasmussen_reports_unemployment_update/rasmussen_reports_unemployment_update) has the numbers.
The report is paywalled, but I pay the subscription fee (and take the tax write-off) so you don't have to if you ever wondered where some of your VIP membership dollars wind up.
Rasmussen surveyed nearly 9,000 American adults and found that in July the percentage of Americans who are unemployed and looking for work — this is the number that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) should report each month — was 8.4%. The BLS reported a rosy 4.3% unemployment rate last month, up from June's equally imaginary 4.1%.
From there, things only get worse. Because under Bidenomics, of course, they do.
One in four adult Americans is retired, which is nice for them. Fifteen percent say they're entrepreneurs (that can be anything from driving an Uber to launching a Silicon Valley startup), and just under 30% are employed by a private company.
Nearly one in 10 work for the government at one level or another. Those workers are supported entirely by tax dollars without producing any material wealth. Every government employee involved in regulation makes it harder for the rest of us to do so.

If you've been keeping track of these numbers in your head, you might notice they don't add up to anything close to 100%. About three percent of adults surveyed answered "not sure" about their employment situation, the kind of answer that I assume involves smoking weed. The remaining 9.7% said they were unemployed but not looking — i.e., "Not in Workforce."
That means the percentage of Americans who could be working and perhaps would really like to be working but either can't find work or have given up finding work is 18.1%. That's more than four times the official unemployment rate.
It also means that the 45% of Americans who do work in the private sector are, in one way or another, supporting the 55% who don't, can't, or won't work.
So if you felt tired getting up for work on Monday morning, that might be why.
While Rasmussen's numbers aren't in Great Depression territory, when the honest unemployment rate hit 25%, they're right in line with an anemic economy or an actual recession. And that's despite Washington throwing trillions into the economy — including $8 billion for Intel, which just laid off 15,000 employees — to spark growth.

What we need is another round of serious deregulation, tax cuts, and an end to Washington's reckless overspending — the opposite of Bidenomics.

Black Diamond
08-05-2024, 10:46 AM
Mark Twain called. He says the term "government statistics" demands far many more expletives than just "damned".

fj1200
08-05-2024, 10:49 AM
Not really. Unless he just learned that Rasmussen all of a sudden derived a spike of unemployed in their survey then no. Otherwise it's just a discussion of U-5 vs U-6 or whatever one they report.

Kathianne
08-05-2024, 10:55 AM
Not really. Unless he just learned that Rasmussen all of a sudden derived a spike of unemployed in their survey then no. Otherwise it's just a discussion of U-5 vs U-6 or whatever one they report.

That makes sense, though I tend to think the higher one should be the only one. Food and energy are the most inflationary items and also the ones that are of the few that people can control. When the tightening begins, it begins with food and more thoughtful use of driving, heating and cooling...

fj1200
08-05-2024, 10:58 AM
That makes sense, though I tend to think the higher one should be the only one. Food and energy are the most inflationary items and also the ones that are of the few that people can control. When the tightening begins, it begins with food and more thoughtful use of driving, heating and cooling...

Maybe, but using a consistent number is most critical in my book. But he broke one of the cardinal rules of being a pundit; saying "I just learned..." The other of course would be asking a question you don't already know the answer to. :eek: