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Unemployment at 17 year low...

columbus

yawn <ignore> yawn
Do you understand who is considered unemployed and be counted? This woman would not be counted as unemployed.
Did you read the post I quoted?
He subtracted the number of full time jobs from the adults between 18 and 64 to give an unemployment figure of 40%.
Tom
 

shunyadragon

shunyadragon
Premium Member
I was wondering how many Democrats would reply to that. ;)

Reply to what? I accept @colombus' correction as to the meaning of his post and the one he referenced.

Again, the downward trend in unemployment through the eight years of the Obama and less than one year of Trump simply is the continuation of the natural trend, and likely a natural recovery and not caused by Obama nor Trump.
 

Vee

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Okay. Someone tell me how this is a bad thing and how Trump had absolutely nothing to do with it....I'm waiting...

Strangely, 94.5 million american are no longer in the labor force and the work force participation in September was around 63% (Labor Force Participation : U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
It is important to note that in October, 88,500 of those jobs added were waiters and bartenders - low paid jobs
Looking at this graphic, I wouldn't be that excited:
Oct%20Jobs%20by%20type.jpg
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
So, while my mom was running a home and raising 6 kids and volunteering as girl scout troop leader and tutor at our school. ..
You think she was "unemployed" ?
Tom

Okay, okay...I would never dis someone's mother, so I won't take that bait.

But, since it's been brought up earlier, let's say for the sake of argument we exclude stay-at-home moms from the figures.

So, how many stay-at-home moms are there currently?

After Decades of Decline, A Rise in Stay-at-Home Mothers

The share of mothers who do not work outside the home rose to 29% in 2012,

How many moms are there in the United States?

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb12-ff08.html

85.4 million
Estimated number of mothers in the United States in 2009.
Source: Survey of Income and Program Participation, unpublished tabulations

The years are slightly off, but it gives us something to work with.

29% of 85.4 million = 24,650,000

83,000,000 - 24,650,000 = 58,350,000
58,350,000/207,000,000 = 0.28 = 28% unemployment

So, my basic point still stands, even with this minor alteration.

However, I'm not convinced that excluding stay-at-home moms from the labor force is very useful either. It's not like it was 50 years ago when most families were able to live well on a single income, which allowed for stay-at-home moms. Nowadays, only the very affluent are able to actually afford it. Many more might be on public assistance and/or living in impoverished conditions. Or they and their kids might be living with their parents.

Either way, I don't think it would be correct to exclude them from the statistics, since their lives could obviously improve if they had access to good jobs to boost their income. If that's not possible for them, then that's a reflection of the state of affairs in the US economy which should be reflected in unemployment statistics.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
So, while my mom was running a home and raising 6 kids and volunteering as girl scout troop leader and tutor at our school. ..
You think she was "unemployed" ?
Tom
In an economy where winners and losers are measured by cash, she is. In the better world, she's fully employed just not for cash.
 

Skwim

Veteran Member
Okay. Someone tell me how this is a bad thing and how Trump had absolutely nothing to do with it....I'm waiting...
In order to ascribe anything to Trump (or anyone else) you have to show a cause/effect relationship. So, what ya got?

The ball's in your court.

.

.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
It's useful to look at the lag in the economy to such factors as stock market collapses and other causes of recessions to when we reach bottom. That takes years as does coming out of the bottom and reaching a new top.

What can be attributed to Trump is that the stock market loves him and keeps going higher so there was no "Trump caused a crash" headline. I'll give him that and only that.

But I also want to know how many are employed for decent wages sufficient to provide a decent life for a family. Having growth in below living wage jobs is not a win for anyone and this applies to both the current and past president. There's a structural problem in America and solving that is an issue.
 
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Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
You might try to read up on how these figures are determined, and different kinds of "employment" and "unemployment" are determined, and yes, there are several different kinds.

I have read up on it. I know how the stats are compiled, and that's why I consider them "spin" more than any accurate reflection of the state of affairs in the US economy. The bottom line is that they're not designed to generate truth or accuracy, but to propagate "faith" in the economy and the political system. Without that faith, everything falls apart.

To begin with, you don't count active-duty military, so that has to be accounted for.

Obviously, since they're employed.

Then, there are some people over the age of 64 who do work, even when they are "retired," so adjustments need to be made for that tidbit.

I can't see that the number would be large enough to make a difference.

Those in prison or jail are not included.

They are still able to work.

The numbers include those over age 16, not starting at 18.

Then that would make the unemployment rate even higher, since teen unemployment is generally higher than the general stats.

Those who are disabled and unable to work are accounted for.

It depends on how one defines "disabled." I've worked with numerous employers who hire people with various disabilities. They might have to make some accommodations for them, but just because someone is "disabled" doesn't mean they're unable to work. In some cases, it does mean that, so this is another case where the meaning of a word is "open to interpretation."

The self-employed are not included.

Again, this is obvious, since they're employed.

And, there are a significant number of adults who, for various reasons, do not wish to work, and are not actively seeking employment, including the retired and spouses/partners. Part-time workers, and those who work two or more jobs must be accounted for.

So, if they don't wish to work and are not actively seeking employment, then what are they doing? Just sitting around and sponging off of others? If that's what is going on, then shouldn't that also be reflected in statistics which are supposed to tell us the current status of the economy?

Then, the current rates are determined based on a model of the economy, and includes data from a number of different sources, including monthly surveys of households, news reports, employer reports to government, etc., etc.

It's complicated because life is complicated, and while the DOL does report a simple number such as you suggest, that statistic is almost worthless to various consumers of employment data, including the states, localities, nonprofits, etc., who have to administer various programs that might have to deal with the unemployed in some way or another.

Well, yes, life is complicated, but the "unemployment rate" is viewed as a kind of "scorecard" (among various other so-called "key indicators") which are supposed to give Americans an accurate and truthful view of the true state of the US economy. It should not be used to throw around a few stats as part of massive political spin and propaganda to make people "feel good." That's what it's all about. I can see through the lies and the spin.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Well, yes, life is complicated, but the "unemployment rate" is viewed as a kind of "scorecard" (among various other so-called "key indicators") which are supposed to give Americans an accurate and truthful view of the true state of the US economy. It should not be used to throw around a few stats as part of massive political spin and propaganda to make people "feel good." That's what it's all about. I can see through the lies and the spin.

The spin is obvious. If the numbers are good, politicians claim credit. If the numbers are bad, it's not their fault.

Untangling cause and effect in our complex economy is hard but over time we can see at least some cause-effect correlations.
 

BSM1

What? Me worry?
Well! This was certainly fun and predictable. Thank you all for playing. Johnny? Do we have some lovely parting gifts for our contestants?
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
I'm not American so this discussion is quite meaningless to me.

But i do have a point of interest.

Many years ago i visited a communist country when the wall was high and the cold war higher. This country boasted 100% employment. One way they achieved this wonderful ideal was at 8 am, the traffic lights were turned off, a person with 2 paddles, red one side, green the other, would walk to the centre of the junction and spend 2 hours signalling traffic to stop or go. At 10am the lights were turned back on. The same procedure occured from 4 until 6.

Hardly relevant but employment related and, i think interesting.

Another thing i noticed was the proliferation of blue or grey box trucks with Albania written on the side. The sheer number, (i would see 200+ of these trucks each day) peeked my interest as to what could Albania be exporting in such vast quantities. When i returned to the uk i did a little research to discover the only thing Albania exported was electricity. Then i really began to think.
 

Milton Platt

Well-Known Member
Okay. Someone tell me how this is a bad thing and how Trump had absolutely nothing to do with it....I'm waiting...

I have no idea what Trump had to do with it....It has been falling for years. What policies do you think he implemented that caused the trend to continue? He may well have influenced it. Glad he didn't reverse the trend.
 
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