The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that real unemployment is 18%. This percentage includes other forms of unemployment that are not typically included in the regular unemployment statistics. The descriptions of the various types of unemployed workers are as follows:
U-3 is the 'official' unemployment rate and illustrates total unemployed persons as a percentage of the civilian labor force.
U-4 is another category that includes unemployed workers plus discouraged workers. A discouraged worker is someone who's available to work but has stopped actively seeking for work.
U-5 unemployment includes the number of unemployed workers, plus discouraged workers, plus marginally attached workers. A marginally attached worker is someone who is able and willing to work but is not actively seeking work.
U-6 is as close to the real unemployment figure as government reporting gets. This number includes unemployed workers, plus discouraged workers, plus marginally attached workers, plus workers that are forced to work part-time because they are not able to find a full-time job. Put another way, it's the most realistic picture of today's job market as any.
finance.yahoo.com/news/Real-Unemployment-18-Will-etfguide-45329818.html?x=0&.v=1
When you look at how the official unemployment of our nation does not even include all of those individuals who do not work it is obvious that the true percentage of people who have a full time job that can provide sufficient income is smaller than it seems. The real unemployment level of 18% is pretty shocking to me. I had never heard that the unemployment rates which people are usually presented with are in fact quite a bit lower than the actual amount of people who lack a stable job.
ReplyDeleteThe government's tricky like that, isn't it? It's interesting to see the actual statistics attributed to these different categories of workers. I feel like I can picture a handful of people I know for each category (and so can the rest of America, probably). It's a little depressing, but definitely realistic, to classify people who are not working to their full job potential as unemployed because the economy's not functioning at equilibrium. However, I think there's something to be said for the preservation of consumer confidence. As you allude to in your title, I do think that stocks would take a hit if most Americans were conscious of this "real unemployment" figure since we learned that expectations are a big factor in both demand and supply shifts. Then again, maybe it wouldn't come as a shocker right about now.
ReplyDeleteE,A,F
I think that it is crazy how there are 308,650,582 people in the united states according to the bureau and about 55,000,000 people are unemployed in the united states and that is still not including some people like preston said. That amount of people is greater than the entire state of california, it would actually just under if we lost texas and california according to census projections of states for 2010. I feel that we should be able to create a lot more jobs for people or find work/new projects
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. I feel like the unemployment rate used most common, the U-3, is the best, but i always wondered what the total amount of people unemployed were out of all those who can work. I wonder how this compares to other nations around the world. Maybe it shows we are lazier or more discouraged than other nations.
ReplyDelete