The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment
by Jim Clifton from the Gallup Poll
Here's something that many Americans
-- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don't know: The
official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is
extremely misleading.
Right now, we're hearing much
celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how
unemployment is "down" to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is
deafening. The media loves a comeback story, the White House wants to score
political points and Wall Street would like you to stay in the market.
None of them will tell you this: If
you, a family member or anyone is unemployed and has subsequently given up on
finding a job -- if you are so hopelessly out of work that you've stopped
looking over the past four weeks -- the Department of Labor doesn't count you
as unemployed. That's right. While you are as unemployed as one can possibly
be, and tragically may never find work again, you are not counted in the
figure we see relentlessly in the news -- currently 5.6%. Right now, as many as
30 million Americans are either out of work or severely underemployed. Trust
me, the vast majority of them aren't throwing parties to toast
"falling" unemployment.
There's another reason why the
official rate is misleading. Say you're an out-of-work engineer or healthcare
worker or construction worker or retail manager: If you perform a minimum of
one hour of work in a week and are paid at least $20 -- maybe someone pays you
to mow their lawn -- you're not officially counted as unemployed in the
much-reported 5.6%. Few Americans know this.
Yet another figure of importance
that doesn't get much press: those working part time but wanting full-time
work. If you have a degree in chemistry or math and are working 10 hours part
time because it is all you can find -- in other words, you are severely
underemployed -- the government doesn't count you in the 5.6%. Few Americans
know this.
There's no other way to say this.
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.
And it's a lie that has
consequences, because 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.
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. We need that to be 50% and a bare minimum of 10 million new,
good jobs to replenish America's middle class.
I hear all the time that
"unemployment is greatly reduced, but the people aren't feeling it."
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.
Posters comments;
1) It is time
for a change in most political leaders and their appointed minions, too, and I
would suggest.
2) Now is a
very good time to apply the Golden Rule principles. Said another way, let us help in any way we
can to help our fellow man and woman who could benefit these days.
3) Now that
idea suggests voting is a good idea to help change along the way, too.
4) In most
cases, many just want to work at a decent full time job.
5) Then we
the people don’t have to feed and water those that need the extra help these
days. They can do it themselves, and for their own Families, too.
6) We are a
pretty good country as is (both the land and the people). Now some smart and
experienced leadership might help us, too.
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