Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The unemployment rate, the statistic most commonly used by government and media to tell how the economy is doing, does not indicate just how bad things really are in the United States. That’s because the unemployment rate, calculated each month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is based on the number of jobless people who have actively sought work within the previous four weeks. Using that qualification, the federal government estimated that there were 13.7 million unemployed in April, or 8.9%.
But what about “discouraged” workers—people who want to work but have given up on account of frustration? They’re not included in the bureau’s calculation. Nor are people who currently have a part-time job, but want full-time work, the so-called underemployed.
If the federal government included all people who want jobs or want more hours, the number of unemployed would be 24.7 million. And how many jobs are available for this mass of employment seekers? About 2.7 million. This means there are nine job seekers for every available opening.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Employment Is Worse Than You Think (by Kat Aaron, Center for Public Integrity)
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