Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor
The unemployment rate being fed to the American people by our own government is simply smoke and mirrors.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently reported that the U.S. economy added 223,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent.
Look around you. Do you see good paying jobs being created? The cruel truth of the matter is that the official unemployment rate cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently unemployed, as well as the underemployed. If you give up and stop searching for a job, the U.S. government stops counting you in the work force.
And here’s another crushing detail you’ll never hear from this administration or the liberal media. The number of Americans 16 years and older who did not participate in the labor force (meaning they neither had a job nor actively sought one in the last four weeks) rose to over 93 million in March, according to the BLS. In fact, the labor force participation rate has dropped to 62.7 percent, matching a 37-year low!
Most people aren’t aware of the ambiguity of the jobs numbers.
Because unemployment insurance records relate only to people who have applied for benefits, and since it’s impractical to count every unemployed person each month, the government conducts a monthly survey called the “Current Population Survey” to measure the extent of unemployment.
Each month, “highly trained and experienced” Census Bureau employees contact 60,000 eligible sample households and ask about the labor force activities (job holding and job seeking) or non-labor force status of the members of these households during that particular survey week. Via an electronic questionnaire, the survey responses are “weighted,” or adjusted to independent population estimates from the Census Bureau. The weighting takes into account the age, sex, ethnicity and the state of residence of the individual, so that these characteristics are reflected in the proper proportions in the final estimates.
Do you think there may be a little room for error or chicanery here?
Jim Clifton, the CEO of Gallup, recently wrote a piece in his blog about the underhandedness of the employment numbers and how the official unemployment rate does not accurately reflect the grim reality of jobs in America.
“Right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is “down” to 5.6 percent. The cheerleading for this number is deafening,” Clifton writes. “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.”
Although Barack Obama often rails against income inequality in America, his policies have had little impact on poverty. A record 47 million Americans now receive food stamps, about 13 million more than when he took office.
Our nation is in decline on so many levels. But a good paying job means everything to a family. So why does this administration keep telling us it’s getting better?
Here’s the answer. In the progressive world, “better” is more people dependent upon government. It’s that simple.
Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.
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