NOW FOR THE REAL UNEMPLOYMENT AND UNDEREMPLOYMENT NUMBERS --- 14.8% The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced yesterday morning that on a seasonally adjusted basis: In January 2014, employers added 113,000 non-farm jobs. This figure compares to December’s revised increase of just 75,000 non-farm jobs (previously 74,000) and to November’s revised increase of 274,000. January’s non-farm jobs figure includes 142,000 more private sector jobs less 29,000 fewer government jobs. The official unemployment rate fell to 6.6% from December’s figure of 6.7%, with the decline again very much the result of people leaving the workforce plus, as in December, some extreme weather impact. As of January 31, 2014, based on a separate monthly survey of “households”, there were 10.2 million unemployed persons. HOWEVER ... These monthly BLS figures do not reflect Real Unemployment, because: 1. BLS does not include among unemployed persons (i.e., the ‘numerator’) the 9.9 million workers in total who are either “marginally attached” or “part-time-of-necessity.” a. Marginally attached workers, of whom there are now 2.6 million, are workers who “while wanting and available for jobs, have not searched for work in the past four weeks but have searched for work in the past twelve months.” Included among them are 0.8 million discouraged workers who did not look for work specifically because “they believe there are no jobs available or none for which they would qualify.” b. Part-time-of-necessity workers, of whom there are now 7.3 million, are workers unable to find full-time jobs or who’ve had their hours cut back. These workers are often referred to as the “underemployed.” 2. BLS does not include in the civilian labor force (i.e., the ‘denominator’) marginally attached workers (although it does include part-time-of-necessity workers). This Summary of U.S. Real Unemployment makes the adjustments necessary to determine the number of Real Unemployed Persons and the Real Unemployment Rate. In January 2014: 1. The number of Real Unemployed Persons decreased by 464,000 to 20.1 million. 2. The Real Unemployment Rate decreased by 0.4% to 12.7%. Note: In addition to the total 20.1 million Real Unemployed Persons at January 31, there were another 3.9 million persons who, while also saying they want jobs, have not looked for work in the past twelve months. Because they haven’t looked, these persons are not included among marginally attached workers; if they are included, then January’s Real Unemployment Rate of 12.7% increases to 14.8%. Note 2: For the last four years, the above analysis was sent to reporters, electeed officials and advocates for the jobless each month. It made mincemeat of the governments under-counts, and encouraged the media to report the real unemployment levels in America. THANKS, LEO, FOR MAKING THE CASE MONTH AFTER MONTH.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Feb 2014 14:19:45 +0000