PostHeaderIcon The “Unemployment Rate” and Other Lies

It has long since become obvious that the so-called “unemployment rate” announced by our government is not the least bit accurate. First, it does not count all of the unemployed and second, each cycle the government issues a false report that is, inevitably, followed by a worse (but still false) update.

Yet, the content of this lie can have a major impact on national elections. Why do we put up with this?

I contend that there is actually no truly accurate way to measure unemployment because we are not sure exactly what the word means. Does it apply only to people who don’t have a job but want to have one? What about people who don’t have a job and would not take one were it offered? What about me? I am retired so does that make me unemployed?

I realize that the politicians actually like this sort of measurement that actually measures nothing because it is hard to pin them down even when we know we are being lied to. But there is another way, one that should be quite simple and way more accurate. Measure employment instead. This could be as easy as counting the number of people contributing to FICA and Medicare. And, it would tell us something real. Namely, are the number of jobs in the nation increasing, decreasing or staying the same. Is that not the important thing?

Furthermore, there is a simple fix for most governmental lying. Simply require all governmental units to use the same accounting and reporting methods that this same government forces on businesses.

Bottom line is this – our national problems are not being solved because too few actually want them solved. This is obvious to us when we watch stupid election outcomes in France and Greece but how many of us realize we are doing the very same thing?

Government cannot sink as low or become as corrupt as ours has done without a mass of poor citizenship on the part of We The Sheeple.

As an aside — even in the Land of the Stupid, how on Earth can the Congress have a single digit approval rate while over 90% get reelected over and over? Can it possibly be that most of WTS think OUR guy is doing a good job because they bring $$$$$$$$$ back to our district while all the others stink because they take $$$$$$$$$$ back to their own districts? If someone has a better answer, I would sure like to see it.

Any who follow this Blog will notice that my contribution rate is way down. There is a simple reason for this – I have become so disgusted with the lot of us that it just does not seem worth the effort most of the time.

Troy L Robinson

2 Responses to “The “Unemployment Rate” and Other Lies”

  • Dave Shea says:

    Thank you for the post, I liked it. It makes so much sense it is doomed however. 😀

  • Troy, I think the figure you are looking for is called the ‘labor force participation rate.’

    Question: What is the Labor Force Participation Rate?

    Answer: The labor force participation rate is the percentage of working-age persons in an economy who:

    • Are employed

    • Are unemployed but looking for a job

    Typically “working-age persons” is defined as people between the ages of 16-64. People in those age groups who are not counted as participating in the labor force are typically students, homemakers, and persons under the age of 64 who are retired. In the United States the labor force participation rate is usually around 67-68%.

    Last I heard, it was down to about 58%, the lowest it has been in over 30 years! â—„Daveâ–º

Leave a Reply for â—„Daveâ–º

Political Spectrum
Political Circle

Think Up/Down not Left/Right

Archives
Blogroll
Internal Links