Truth About February's 5.50% Unemployment Rate

ARRA News Service - The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report for February, 2015 depicts that the unemployment rate decreased to 5.50 percent from 5.70 percent in January,  2015. Sounds nice.

However. the number of people employed remained static. In fact, the tracked Civilian labor force declined slightly.  The major issue is that statistics don't lie but a lair government doesn't share the whole truth about unemployment. It doesn't count the people who are unemployed because they couldn't get a job and are are no longer looking (filing for benefits)  even though they are in fact - unemployed.

In a prior article titled: "The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment" by Jim Clifton, Gallup, noted: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%. Also, the BLS report doesn't reveal detailed impact of unemployment on 18-29 years-old Americans. Below is more unvarnished information by two non-government organizations on Feb. 2015 reported unemployment rate.

Americans for Limited Government noted, "If the Bureau of Labor Statistics February household survey is to be believed, the unemployment rate dropped by 0.2 percent, with only 96,000 more Americans finding employment. Shockingly, a seasonally adjusted 354,000 more people dropped out the civilian labor force, accounting for most of the drop in the jobless rate. On an unadjusted basis, 56 percent of those who left according to the agency were under the age of 65. So, while some are cheering this report as being good news, the sad truth is that about a quarter million more Americans gave up hope of finding work. That is an economic disaster."

Generation Opportunity, a national, non-partisan youth advocacy organization, is announcing its Millennial Jobs Report for February 2015. The data is non-seasonally adjusted (NSA) and is specific to 18-29-year-olds:

• The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29-year-olds, which adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work, is 14 percent (NSA). The (U-
  
• The declining labor force participation rate has created an additional 1.815 million young adults that are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force, meaning that those young people have given up looking for work due to the lack of jobs.
• The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29-year-old African-Americans is 20.4 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 16.2 percent (NSA).
• The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29-year-old Hispanics is 14.4 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 9.8 percent (NSA).
• The effective (U-6) unemployment rate for 18-29-year-old women is 11.9 percent (NSA); the (U-3) unemployment rate is 8 percent (NSA).

Patrice Lee, Director of Outreach for Generation Opportunity, issued the following statement:“Economic opportunity and the availability of jobs are perhaps the most important ingredients for social mobility and progress. That’s why it’s so disheartening to see young black people facing a 20.1 percent unemployment rate. That’s nearly four times the rate for American adults overall.

"Our broken criminal justice system is a major contributor, trapping people in a cycle of poverty driven by mass incarcerations and high recidivism rates and a lack of second chances after having served time. As a nation we should be encouraged that the broad unemployment rates are improving, but we must not leave behind our young people of color who continue to be disproportionately impacted by the gross incompetence of our nation’s criminal justice system.”

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