The Gallup CEO: 'The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment'

[DA60]

'Here’s something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don’t know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.

Right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is “down” to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. 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.

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.'

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-lie-56-unemployment-jim-clifton


Interesting.

 

[apdst]

'Here’s something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don’t know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.

Right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is “down” to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. 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.

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.'

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-lie-56-unemployment-jim-clifton


Interesting.

Some of us have known this for several years, now.

 

[Renae]

'Here’s something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don’t know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.

Right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is “down” to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. 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.

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.'

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-lie-56-unemployment-jim-clifton


Interesting.

Only those who want to see what they want to see belive Unemplyment is at 5.6%

 

[Declan]

Some of us have known this for several years, now.

It has always been this way for as long as I can remember. The methodology they use has never been more than a snapshot indicator of a certain part of the jobs market--those getting unemployment or who are registered with the unemployment commissions in their state.

 

[Gimmesometruth]

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-lie-56-unemployment-jim-clifton

And it’s a lie that has consequences, because the great American dream is to have a good job, and in recent years, America has failed to deliver that dream more than it has at any time in recent memory.




But....but....the key to creating good full time work.....is AUSTERITY!!!!!...I tells you!!!

 

[Mr. Invisible]

I've known this for a while and I'm living it unfortunately. I graduated college in May and I've been looking now for 8 months and still can't find a full-time job. I've been applying for all sorts of jobs on at least a weekly, if not daily basis. A number of friends are in the same position as well.

 

[pinqy]

It has always been this way for as long as I can remember. The methodology they use has never been more than a snapshot indicator of a certain part of the jobs market--those getting unemployment or who are registered with the unemployment commissions in their state.

That's never been true. The unemployment rate has always been from a survey, never from just those receiving benefits.

 

[sawdust]

The president of a country is like the CEO of the company. The primary job of a CEO is to sell his company to the public. Similarly the President's primary job is to sell his vision for the government to the country. To do this, President's always juice the numbers or cherry pick statistics. At this point, my natural position is to rail against Obama. Realistically, all President's do it and for good reason. The most important statistic that government tracks is consumer confidence. The economy flourishes when confidence is high and plummets when it's low. They lie to us to boost confidence. In an ideal world, they wouldn't have to but when things are down, the worst thing to do is not try to improve it.

 

[brothern]

Interesting.

Declan nails it. The people (Gallup's CEO) who "expose" this drive me absolutely bonkers, because it's obvious that they weren't paying attention to their econ 101 professors. The U3 rate has NEVER included disinterested workers. Never, ever ever. Not when unemployment was at 2%, 5.6% or even 11%. It's not a "new thing." It has been the same parameters for decades.

Secondly, it's U4 that includes disinterested workers. When you look at U3 now (5.6%) compared against U3 at it's apex (10.0% in Oct '09); and compare that to U4 now 6.0% and then 10.5%; you can actually see there are fewer disinterested workers now than there was during the recession.

So not only has unemployment just about halved, but the number of disinterested workers has declined as well!

It has always been this way for as long as I can remember. The methodology they use has never been more than a snapshot indicator of a certain part of the jobs market--those getting unemployment or who are registered with the unemployment commissions in their state.

 

[brothern]

To do this, President's always juice the numbers or cherry pick statistics.

No -- the Gallup CEO is the one being fundamentally dishonest here. All of these categories of employees brought up Clifton are tracked by the BLS, and all of them have improved tremendously since 2009.
Something that Clifton fails to mention.

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

 

[Geoist]

'here’s something that many americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don’t know: the official unemployment rate, as reported by the u.s. Department of labor, is extremely misleading.

right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the white house and wall street about how unemployment is “down” to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. 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.

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.'

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-lie-56-unemployment-jim-clifton


interesting.

this is news???

 

[joG]

'Here’s something that many Americans -- including some of the smartest and most educated among us -- don’t know: The official unemployment rate, as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, is extremely misleading.

Right now, we’re hearing much celebrating from the media, the White House and Wall Street about how unemployment is “down” to 5.6%. The cheerleading for this number is deafening. 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.

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.'

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-lie-56-unemployment-jim-clifton


Interesting.

That isn't really new, but is interesting.
Did you look up the participation in the the workforce or total number of hours worked?

 

[Geoist]

I've known this for a while and I'm living it unfortunately. I graduated college in May and I've been looking now for 8 months and still can't find a full-time job. I've been applying for all sorts of jobs on at least a weekly, if not daily basis. A number of friends are in the same position as well.

Many of my college friends and I are currently underemployed but you rarely hear about that issue in MSM.

 

[Mr. Invisible]

Many of my college friends and I are currently underemployed but you rarely hear about that issue in MSM.

Definitely man. And my student loans are due extremely soon. (Thankfully I'm going on the income-based payment plan.)

 

[Gimmesometruth]

Declan nails it. The people (Gallup's CEO) who "expose" this drive me absolutely bonkers, because it's obvious that they weren't paying attention to their econ 101 professors. The U3 rate has NEVER included disinterested workers. Never, ever ever. Not when unemployment was at 2%, 5.6% or even 11%. It's not a "new thing." It has been the same parameters for decades.

Secondly, it's U4 that includes disinterested workers. When you look at U3 now (5.6%) compared against U3 at it's apex (10.0% in Oct '09); and compare that to U4 now 6.0% and then 10.5%; you can actually see there are fewer disinterested workers now than there was during the recession.

So not only has unemployment just about halved, but the number of disinterested workers has declined as well!

U4 levels have declined to levels seen during the Bush years, so apparently, the memory of the Gallup CEO is extremely short.

 

[SlevinKelevra]

LOL, what a dishonest hackjob. The BLS reports u4,u6, etc. Just because the media has had a long running narrative of the U3, suddenly... NOW... for some unknown reason, we should switch to something more inclusive. What in the world could the reason be.......

 

[iacardsfan]

I think just about everybody on this board knows about that. We hear about it every month.

 

[sawdust]

No -- the Gallup CEO is the one being fundamentally dishonest here. All of these categories of employees brought up Clifton are tracked by the BLS, and all of them have improved tremendously since 2009.
Something that Clifton fails to mention.

Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

I don't know what your questionnaire proves. Statistics don't lie but liars use statistics to lie. The unemployment rate doesn't take into account the under employed, those forced into part time and discouraged workers. Employment has improved since the beginning of the recession, that's true but the employment picture in America is not good. Many economists believe that a true reporting of unemployment including those opting out of the labor market or participating in the underground economy plus those who have chosen disability but are able to work would put our true rate over 11%. Don't believe the government's use of statistics to fool you.

 

[KevinKohler]

Definitely man. And my student loans are due extremely soon. (Thankfully I'm going on the income-based payment plan.)

I hate to tell you this, but I think this is the new normal. I don't know what your degree is in, but sad to say, you're sounding to me like a future retail worker. Which is what I do now. And I also have a 4 year degree.

 

[SlevinKelevra]

I don't know what your questionnaire proves.

Many economists believe that a true reporting of unemployment including those opting out of the labor market or participating in the underground economy plus those who have chosen disability but are able to work would put our true rate over 11%. Don't believe the government's use of statistics to fool you.

OMG. are you serious?

 

[Hicup]

I've known this for a while and I'm living it unfortunately. I graduated college in May and I've been looking now for 8 months and still can't find a full-time job. I've been applying for all sorts of jobs on at least a weekly, if not daily basis. A number of friends are in the same position as well.

Then one great piece of advice my Dad gave me before his untimely death was that if you always want to have a job, learn how to sell. A good salesman is recession-proof! He was right!

Tim-

 

[Objective Voice]

I've known this for a while and I'm living it unfortunately. I graduated college in May and I've been looking now for 8 months and still can't find a full-time job. I've been applying for all sorts of jobs on at least a weekly, if not daily basis. A number of friends are in the same position as well.

As a recent college graduate, you probably would never be counted among the unemployed or under-employed if you've never held a full-time job. The matrix for the Current Population Survey the BLS uses only surveys households, not individuals.

 

[sawdust]

OMG. are you serious?

Aren't you the guy who knew how to use google? You should consider doing a little research.

 

[SlevinKelevra]

Aren't you the guy who knew how to use google? You should consider doing a little research.

His "questionnare" was a set of form boxes to interactively select, which then when you submit return the differing unemployment metrics the gov't puts out, including the U6, which is exactly the info you were saying other economists find to be around 11%.

JFC. do you even internet, bro?

 

[Objective Voice]

I don't know what your questionnaire proves. Statistics don't lie but liars use statistics to lie. The unemployment rate doesn't take into account the under employed, those forced into part time and discouraged workers. Employment has improved since the beginning of the recession, that's true but the employment picture in America is not good. Many economists believe that a true reporting of unemployment including those opting out of the labor market or participating in the underground economy plus those who have chosen disability but are able to work would put our true rate over 11%. Don't believe the government's use of statistics to fool you.

Read below and get alittle bit more education on how the federal unemployment figures are categorized.

Declan nails it. The people (Gallup's CEO) who "expose" this drive me absolutely bonkers, because it's obvious that they weren't paying attention to their econ 101 professors. The U3 rate has NEVER included disinterested workers. Never, ever ever. Not when unemployment was at 2%, 5.6% or even 11%. It's not a "new thing." It has been the same parameters for decades.

Secondly, it's U4 that includes disinterested workers. When you look at U3 now (5.6%) compared against U3 at it's apex (10.0% in Oct '09); and compare that to U4 now 6.0% and then 10.5%; you can actually see there are fewer disinterested workers now than there was during the recession.

So not only has unemployment just about halved, but the number of disinterested workers has declined as well!

OMG. are you serious?

Sadly, I believe he was! :shock: