WASHINGTON, August 3, 2013 — A White House spokesman called July’s 7.4 percent unemployment rate proof that “the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.” He said it with a straight face. The data tell another story: America remains mired in the Great Obama Depression.
The unemployment rate that the administration trumpets is a liar’s number. The formula for the unemployment figure that is released every month is rigged to look favorable to the administration in power.
This is nothing new. President Bill Clinton had the formula reworked in his first term so he could point to declining unemployment when he ran for reelection.
The true numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a far different picture. They show an America that is in economic collapse. The unemployment rate did not drop because there were more jobs in July. It fell because there were fewer people looking for jobs. The civilian labor force fell by approximately 37,000 workers. The people who are not in the labor force has climbed to 89,957,000; almost ninety million American adults are not in the workforce.
The workforce participation rate — the percentage of adults who are participating in the work force — dropped again in July. It is now 63.4 percent, down from 63.5 percent; over one third of American adults are not in the labor force.
Even worse, the number of discouraged workers rose to almost one million. “Discouraged worker” is the term for people who want to be in the workforce but have given up on looking for jobs because they believe no jobs are available.
Those numbers and statistics typically trigger a response in most people called MEGO: My eyes glaze over. Numbers like that put most people to sleep. The government counts on it. Rush Limbaugh uses the term, “low information voter.” A lot of people are low information voters. Far too many people rely in the drive by media for their news, and with the liberal bias of the news, all they hear is, “unemployment is down.”
The story they never hear but need to, is that the books are cooked.
There is one other devastating figure that most people are not talking about. In June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only 47 percent of American adults had full-time jobs. Fewer than half of Americans are working full time!
That should be a headline. Instead it is ignored. It is an indictment of the failure of Obamanomics and the economic policies of the current administration.
The one area of the economy that is growing is in temporary employment: 2.7 million Americans are working in temp jobs.
Beneath the numbers that make up the headlines is the horrifying truth of the Great Obama Depression: Prosperity is rapidly fleeing America. As Obamacare punishes companies for having fulltime employees, it encourages only part time employment. Part-time employment makes the American dream an impossibility.
Remembering where we were less than ten years ago: Unemployment was below 5 percent. Economists generally regard 5 percent as full employment. Jobs were chasing people. Today people are chasing jobs, and often not finding them.
America is rapidly dividing into two parts. One part is those fortunate enough to have a job, and the other is those who are looking for work, looking for welfare, or simply praying they survive.
A prosperous society cannot survive this.
This is the indictment of Obamanomics and it is the cold, hard truth about the Great Obama Depression.
Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/judson-phillips-cold-hard-truth/2013/aug/3/great-obama-depression/#ixzz2b6HoWtOa
The unemployment rate that the administration trumpets is a liar’s number. The formula for the unemployment figure that is released every month is rigged to look favorable to the administration in power.
This is nothing new. President Bill Clinton had the formula reworked in his first term so he could point to declining unemployment when he ran for reelection.
The true numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show a far different picture. They show an America that is in economic collapse. The unemployment rate did not drop because there were more jobs in July. It fell because there were fewer people looking for jobs. The civilian labor force fell by approximately 37,000 workers. The people who are not in the labor force has climbed to 89,957,000; almost ninety million American adults are not in the workforce.
The workforce participation rate — the percentage of adults who are participating in the work force — dropped again in July. It is now 63.4 percent, down from 63.5 percent; over one third of American adults are not in the labor force.
Even worse, the number of discouraged workers rose to almost one million. “Discouraged worker” is the term for people who want to be in the workforce but have given up on looking for jobs because they believe no jobs are available.
Those numbers and statistics typically trigger a response in most people called MEGO: My eyes glaze over. Numbers like that put most people to sleep. The government counts on it. Rush Limbaugh uses the term, “low information voter.” A lot of people are low information voters. Far too many people rely in the drive by media for their news, and with the liberal bias of the news, all they hear is, “unemployment is down.”
The story they never hear but need to, is that the books are cooked.
There is one other devastating figure that most people are not talking about. In June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only 47 percent of American adults had full-time jobs. Fewer than half of Americans are working full time!
That should be a headline. Instead it is ignored. It is an indictment of the failure of Obamanomics and the economic policies of the current administration.
The one area of the economy that is growing is in temporary employment: 2.7 million Americans are working in temp jobs.
Beneath the numbers that make up the headlines is the horrifying truth of the Great Obama Depression: Prosperity is rapidly fleeing America. As Obamacare punishes companies for having fulltime employees, it encourages only part time employment. Part-time employment makes the American dream an impossibility.
Remembering where we were less than ten years ago: Unemployment was below 5 percent. Economists generally regard 5 percent as full employment. Jobs were chasing people. Today people are chasing jobs, and often not finding them.
America is rapidly dividing into two parts. One part is those fortunate enough to have a job, and the other is those who are looking for work, looking for welfare, or simply praying they survive.
A prosperous society cannot survive this.
This is the indictment of Obamanomics and it is the cold, hard truth about the Great Obama Depression.
Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/judson-phillips-cold-hard-truth/2013/aug/3/great-obama-depression/#ixzz2b6HoWtOa