In an Opinion Blog on gallup.com Feb. 3, the CEO of the iconic Gallup research and polling firm stated: “The official unemployment rate, which cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently
unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a BIG LIE.”
He noted there had been much celebrating from the White House, in the media and Wall Street about how unemployment was “down” to 5.6%. He then points out some things that everyone celebrating will not tell you
about the employment rate:
One - If anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job and stopped looking over the last 4 weeks the Department of Labor doesn’t count you as unemployed.
Two - For any out of work person — regardless of your work experience or qualification — if you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20, you’re not officially counted as unemployed.
Three - For those working part time but wanting full-time work: If you have a degree and are happen to be severely underemployed working 10 hours part time, the government doesn’t count you in the 5.6%.
CEO Clifton says few Americans know this. My guess would be among the ordinary citizenry hardly any would be remotely aware of this at all. He estimates that as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work
or severely underemployed. Gallup defines a good job as 30+ hours per week for an organization that provides a regular paycheck.
Right now, the U.S. is delivering at a staggeringly low rate of 44%, which is the number of full-time jobs as a percent of the adult population, 18 years and older. He states that needs to be 50% and a bare minimum of 10
million new, good jobs to replenish America's middle class. Very movingly he goes on to say. “The great American dream is to have a good job, and in recent years, America has failed to deliver that dream more than it has at any time in recent memory. A good job is an individual's primary identity, their very self-worth, their dignity -- it establishes the relationship they have with their friends, community and country. When we fail to deliver a good job that fits a citizen's talents, training and experience, we are failing the great American dream.”
He concludes with this challenge: “When the media, talking heads, the White House and Wall Street start reporting the truth -- the percent of Americans in good jobs; jobs that are full time and real -- then we will quit
wondering why Americans aren't "feeling" something that doesn't remotely reflect the reality in their lives. And we will also quit wondering what hollowed out the middle class.” Amen.
To understand the source of the unemployment rate confusion, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics www.bls.gov and look for ‘unemployment rate.’ You will something else that very few are aware of: there are in fact SIX
different unemployment rates calculated by the BLS. They are called ‘alternative measures of labor utilization’ and they are labeled U1 through U6. U3 is the one used for the official rate. The U6 specifically includes the categories that CEO Clifton described. That U6 rate was 11.2% at the time the U3 was 5.6% -- so it was DOUBLE,
yes DOUBLE the U3 rate trumpeted by the White House and the media!
I think this very unusual, blighted job situation deserves recognition. Let’s call it the SOS Special Obama Shortfall Unemployment Rate!
To track the real life employment status, take the U6, subtract the U3 and you will have the SOS rate that Obama’s “Oblundernomics” has cursed the job market with. That number represents the gap that remains between
the “official” unemployment rate and actual full time employment.
Briefly noted, this very unfortunate and grim job reality is the inevitable consequence of the Obama administration’s relentless expansion of government programs, stifling regulations and Executive Branch over reach combined with its ignorance and total lack of interest regarding private sector job creation. This has been the perfect storm for the prolonged, atypical and variable economic recovery even nearly 6 years after the
‘Great Recession’ officially ended in June 2009.Don’t you wish this administration would make some effort and take some pride in increasing the rate of the fully employed instead of boasting to the United Nations that we now have over 46 million Americans on government food programs and boasting that we will be spending over 100 billion dollars to continue that ?
Shouldn’t the primary focus and desire be to give the under- and unemployed and all those on government food programs the opportunity, self-esteem, personal freedom and independence that can come with a good paying job?
I would think that would be something truly worth boasting about.
Jerome Missel, M.D.
Public Relations Officer, Woonsocket Republican City Committee
____________________________________________________________
gallup.com Highly recommended to track the real state of employment
Gallup Chairman’s Opinion Blog:
http://www.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/181469/big-lieunemployment.aspx
Gallup CEO fears he might suddenly disappear for questioning U.S. jobs
data:
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2015/02/gallup-ceo-fears-he-might-suddenlydisappear-for-questioning-u-s-jobs-data/
Bureau of Labor Statistics: www.bls.gov
U1 through U6 are called “Alternative measures of labor underutilization”
Interesting reading: you can see the specific criteria
unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a BIG LIE.”
He noted there had been much celebrating from the White House, in the media and Wall Street about how unemployment was “down” to 5.6%. He then points out some things that everyone celebrating will not tell you
about the employment rate:
One - If anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on finding a job and stopped looking over the last 4 weeks the Department of Labor doesn’t count you as unemployed.
Two - For any out of work person — regardless of your work experience or qualification — if you perform a minimum of one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20, you’re not officially counted as unemployed.
Three - For those working part time but wanting full-time work: If you have a degree and are happen to be severely underemployed working 10 hours part time, the government doesn’t count you in the 5.6%.
CEO Clifton says few Americans know this. My guess would be among the ordinary citizenry hardly any would be remotely aware of this at all. He estimates that as many as 30 million Americans are either out of work
or severely underemployed. Gallup defines a good job as 30+ hours per week for an organization that provides a regular paycheck.
Right now, the U.S. is delivering at a staggeringly low rate of 44%, which is the number of full-time jobs as a percent of the adult population, 18 years and older. He states that needs to be 50% and a bare minimum of 10
million new, good jobs to replenish America's middle class. Very movingly he goes on to say. “The great American dream is to have a good job, and in recent years, America has failed to deliver that dream more than it has at any time in recent memory. A good job is an individual's primary identity, their very self-worth, their dignity -- it establishes the relationship they have with their friends, community and country. When we fail to deliver a good job that fits a citizen's talents, training and experience, we are failing the great American dream.”
He concludes with this challenge: “When the media, talking heads, the White House and Wall Street start reporting the truth -- the percent of Americans in good jobs; jobs that are full time and real -- then we will quit
wondering why Americans aren't "feeling" something that doesn't remotely reflect the reality in their lives. And we will also quit wondering what hollowed out the middle class.” Amen.
To understand the source of the unemployment rate confusion, go to the Bureau of Labor Statistics www.bls.gov and look for ‘unemployment rate.’ You will something else that very few are aware of: there are in fact SIX
different unemployment rates calculated by the BLS. They are called ‘alternative measures of labor utilization’ and they are labeled U1 through U6. U3 is the one used for the official rate. The U6 specifically includes the categories that CEO Clifton described. That U6 rate was 11.2% at the time the U3 was 5.6% -- so it was DOUBLE,
yes DOUBLE the U3 rate trumpeted by the White House and the media!
I think this very unusual, blighted job situation deserves recognition. Let’s call it the SOS Special Obama Shortfall Unemployment Rate!
To track the real life employment status, take the U6, subtract the U3 and you will have the SOS rate that Obama’s “Oblundernomics” has cursed the job market with. That number represents the gap that remains between
the “official” unemployment rate and actual full time employment.
Briefly noted, this very unfortunate and grim job reality is the inevitable consequence of the Obama administration’s relentless expansion of government programs, stifling regulations and Executive Branch over reach combined with its ignorance and total lack of interest regarding private sector job creation. This has been the perfect storm for the prolonged, atypical and variable economic recovery even nearly 6 years after the
‘Great Recession’ officially ended in June 2009.Don’t you wish this administration would make some effort and take some pride in increasing the rate of the fully employed instead of boasting to the United Nations that we now have over 46 million Americans on government food programs and boasting that we will be spending over 100 billion dollars to continue that ?
Shouldn’t the primary focus and desire be to give the under- and unemployed and all those on government food programs the opportunity, self-esteem, personal freedom and independence that can come with a good paying job?
I would think that would be something truly worth boasting about.
Jerome Missel, M.D.
Public Relations Officer, Woonsocket Republican City Committee
____________________________________________________________
gallup.com Highly recommended to track the real state of employment
Gallup Chairman’s Opinion Blog:
http://www.gallup.com/opinion/chairman/181469/big-lieunemployment.aspx
Gallup CEO fears he might suddenly disappear for questioning U.S. jobs
data:
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2015/02/gallup-ceo-fears-he-might-suddenlydisappear-for-questioning-u-s-jobs-data/
Bureau of Labor Statistics: www.bls.gov
U1 through U6 are called “Alternative measures of labor underutilization”
Interesting reading: you can see the specific criteria