Monday, August 10, 2009

Unemployment decreased?Or did it really?

So,the unemployment rate has dipped for July.Sounds like a good thing on the surface,but let's take a closer look at the numbers.There were 267,000 less Americans reporting unemployed in July and this accounts for the dip from 9.5% to 9.4%.But the way I see it,that's not the key number that matters.The number of EMPLOYED Americans dropped 155,000 in July.422,000 Americans dropped from the workforce meaning they aren't counted as employed or unemployed.They ran out of benefits or just stopped looking for employment officially.

This is why the official unemployment number is skewed.It also doesn't account for marginally attached workers which would raise the number to over 16%.All of these variables allow for one to twist the numbers for their convenience depending on what their after.Obama is of course no different than any other President and will take any positive at all and promote it.But the fact remains that 155,000 more people aren't employed after July than were in June and that's not a dip in my book.More to come...

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