{"id":3819,"date":"2011-03-04T10:19:13","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T15:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=3819"},"modified":"2011-03-04T19:03:50","modified_gmt":"2011-03-05T00:03:50","slug":"jobless-rate-falls-to-8-9-as-192k-jobs-added","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2011\/03\/04\/jobless-rate-falls-to-8-9-as-192k-jobs-added\/","title":{"rendered":"Jobless Rate Falls to 8.9% as 192K Jobs Added"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Today&#8217;s jobless report is a good news bad news thing, first the good news&#8230; From <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/2011-03-04\/u-s-payrolls-climbed-192-000-in-february-as-jobless-rate-declined-to-8-9-.html\" target=\"_blank\">Bloomberg<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>U.S. employers added 192,000 workers in February, amid an improving economy and more seasonable weather, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 8.9 percent, the lowest level since April 2009.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So what&#8217;s the bad news? In short the primary reason unemployment is falling is that labor force participation rate is at a 27 year low. We have to go all the way back to March 1984 to find a participation rate this low. As Ed Morrissey <a href=\"http:\/\/hotair.com\/archives\/2011\/03\/04\/jobless-rate-edges-down-to-8-9-192k-jobs-added\/\" target=\"_blank\">notes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The lower denominator makes the overall jobless rate look better than it  should.  If we were at the same participation rate as we saw in  mid-2008, we would probably add two or three points to the unemployment  rate.  And at some time, those workers will re-enter the job-seeking  population and the rate will rise accordingly.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So while the media is trumpeting the good news about the falling unemployment rate you might want to ask yourself why there&#8217;s no mention of the shrinking workforce or the gross disparity between the Department of Labor report and private-sector surveys such as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.gallup.com\/poll\/146453\/Gallup-Finds-Unemployment-Hitting-February.aspx\" target=\"_blank\">Gallup<\/a>. Which shows unemployment at 10.3% and underemployment at 19.9%.<\/p>\n<p>The short answer is that the DoL has been steadily shrinking the work force by eliminating those who  fall off unemployment rolls without finding a job or who failed to check-in with a state employment office in the past month.  This  little bit of statistical voodoo grossly understates the level of real unemployment. It&#8217;s easy for the Bureau of Labor Statistics to pretty up the numbers when they&#8217;ve chopped 500,000 from the workforce in their latest revision.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related<\/strong><a rel=\"bookmark\" href=\"http:\/\/strata-sphere.com\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/15976\"><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/strata-sphere.com\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/15976\" target=\"_blank\">True Unemployment Still Over 10%<\/a> &#8211; AJ Srata, The Strata-Sphere<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.reuters.com\/james-pethokoukis\/2011\/03\/04\/the-new-underclass-and-barack-obama\/\" target=\"_blank\">The new underclass and Barack Obama<\/a> &#8211; James Pethokoukis, Reuters<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/2011\/03\/03\/utah-considers-return-gold-silver-coins\/\" target=\"_blank\">Utah Considers Return to Gold, Silver Coins<\/a> &#8211; Fox News<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/voices.washingtonpost.com\/fact-checker\/2011\/03\/democrats_keep_misleading_on_c.html\" target=\"_blank\">Democrats keep misleading on claimed budget &#8216;cuts&#8217;<\/a> &#8211; Glenn Kessler, The Washington Post<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/id\/41911006\" target=\"_blank\">&#8216;Good&#8217; Jobs Report Has Dark Side<\/a> &#8211; Rick Santelli, CNBC<a rel=\"bookmark\" href=\"http:\/\/strata-sphere.com\/blog\/index.php\/archives\/15976\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today&#8217;s jobless report is a good news bad news thing, first the good news&#8230; From Bloomberg: U.S. employers added 192,000 workers in February, amid an improving economy and more seasonable weather, and the unemployment rate unexpectedly declined to 8.9 percent, the lowest level since April 2009. So what&#8217;s the bad news? In short the primary [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26,7],"tags":[706],"class_list":{"0":"post-3819","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-economy","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-unemployment","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-ZB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2306,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/05\/unemployment-hits-94\/","url_meta":{"origin":3819,"position":0},"title":"Unemployment Hits 9.4%","author":"Jeff","date":"June 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"The unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent in May, its highest rate since July 1983, up from 8.9 percent in April: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. employers cut 345,000 jobs last month, the fewest since September and far less than forecast, according to a government report on Friday that was the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4617,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2012\/09\/07\/awful-u-s-added-96000-jobs-in-august-unemployment-rate-fell-to-8-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":3819,"position":1},"title":"Awful: U.S. Added 96,000 Jobs in August; Unemployment Rate Fell to 8.1%","author":"Jeff","date":"September 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"From MarketWatch: Nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 96,000 in August, well below estimates and down from a respectable 141,000 jobs in July. The payrolls growth came in weaker than the 125,000 increase expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The nation\u2019s unemployment rate fell to a seasonally adjusted 8.1%,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2578,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/08\/unemployment-rate-falls-to-9-4-sort-of\/","url_meta":{"origin":3819,"position":2},"title":"Unemployment Rate Falls to 9.4%&#8230; Sort of&#8230;","author":"Jeff","date":"August 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From Reuters: The U.S. unemployment rate fell in July for the first time in 15 months as employers cut far fewer jobs than expected, providing the clearest sign yet that the economy was turning around. Employers shed 247,000 jobs in July, the Labor Department said Friday, the least in any\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4503,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/06\/awful-unemployment-remains-at-8-2-in-june-just-80000-jobs-added\/","url_meta":{"origin":3819,"position":3},"title":"Awful: Unemployment Remains At 8.2% in June; Just 80,000 Jobs Added","author":"Jeff","date":"July 6, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"From MarketWatch: The U.S. created just 80,000 jobs in June as hiring slowed dramatically in the second quarter, confirming that the economy has hit another rough patch. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.2%, the Labor Department said Friday. The disappointing employment report adds to fresh worries about the U.S.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3225,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/02\/18\/new-jobless-claims-rise-unexpectedly-again\/","url_meta":{"origin":3819,"position":4},"title":"New Jobless Claims Rise&#8230; Unexpectedly&#8230; Again&#8230;","author":"Jeff","date":"February 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here we go again... another week, another \"unexpected\" rise in new jobless claims: The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment insurance unexpectedly surged last week, while producer prices increased sharply in January, raising potential hurdles for the economic recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 31,000\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2509,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/07\/13\/mandating-unemployment\/","url_meta":{"origin":3819,"position":5},"title":"Mandating Unemployment?","author":"Jeff","date":"July 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"From the Wall Street Journal: Here's some economic logic to ponder. The unemployment rate in June for American teenagers was 24%, for black teens it was 38%, and even White House economists are predicting more job losses. So how about raising the cost of that teenage labor? Sorry to say,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Economy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}