The lies about unemployment rate

[serryjw]

lets not forget that unless you qualify for unemployment benefits you are not counted and industry does not have to pay benefits...thanks Bushit! It is estimated that only about 35% of work force actually now qualifies for benefits...who can give on them anyways??

quote.....
The U.S. manufacturing sector, which once provided the bulk of such jobs for Americans without college degrees, has continued to be pummeled by globalization and the movement of those jobs abroad. In 2002, the U.S. trade deficit soared to its highest level of $435 billion. Even during the most recent period of growth, the United States lost more than 2.4 million manufacturing jobs. White-collar jobs, such as computer programming positions, are increasingly being sent overseas as well, which raises further questions about the ability of the U.S. economy to provide enough jobs for its citizens.
end quote....
http://www.dissentmagazine.org/menutest/articles/wi04/shriberg.htm
quote......
Economic Policy Institute (EPI) notes that less than 40 percent of jobless workers qualify for UI benefits. A large portion of those who qualify do not receive the full 26 weeks of benefits. In most states people working in part-time, temporary, low-wage jobs or as independent contractors do not receive benefits or receive them at a reduced level. For example, a minimum-wage worker who worked half time for half a year is not eligible for benefits in New York state. Thirty-one states exclude benefits to part-time workers. This particularly affects women, who make up 70 percent of the part-time labor force.
end quote...........

NOVEMBER 2005 UNEMPLOYMENT DATA
(U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS)

Officially unemployed: 7.6 million (5.0%)

Hidden unemployment: 9.0 million

Total: 16.6 million (10.7% of the labor force)

http://www.njfac.org/

[BuyingThyme]

1. The way I explain it, they only count the unemployed people

who are doing well.

[manic expression]

2. Yeah, this is nothing new, sadly

I heard that if you haven't looked for work in over a month, you are not unemployed. How does that work????

[Jed Dilligan]

10. The "deserving" poor are constantly looking for work nt

[beyurslf]

14. You are "employed" if you are receiving unemployment. If you stop

looking for work and stop registering to receive unemployment (or reach the end of benefits) you are no longer "unemployed."

[Greyhound]

3. Thanks, lets keep this kicked. It is important. n/t

[donheld]

4. serryjw, I've been thing that for quite some time now.

Sadly we never get the truth any more unless we go to obscure sources.

[serryjw]

8. TRUTH? Does anyone know IF this ever happened?

quote.......
February 20, 2004

Washington, D.C.–Deeply concerned by the assertion of the Bush Administration that fast food jobs should be classified as manufacturing jobs, Senator Chris Dodd today wrote a letter to President Bush calling on him to reject such a move and work with congressional Democrats and Republicans to protect American manufacturing jobs. This statement by the Administration comes on the heels of its statement that the outsourcing of jobs overseas will actually help an ailing U.S. economy. The text of Dodd’s letter follows.......
end quote........
http://dodd.senate.gov/press/Releases/04/0220.htm

[TahitiNut]

5. (Jesus Freaking Keeryst) That's WRONG! Plain WRONG.

It seems to be a very common false belief that only those collecting unemployment are counted as unemployed, but it's just plain, fucking WRONG and has been pointed out as wrong many times on DU.

From http://www.bls.gov/cps/uiclaims.htm ...

How is the unemployment rate related to unemployment insurance claims?

Some people think that to get these figures on unemployment the Government uses the number of persons filing claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits under State or Federal Government programs. But some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed.

The number of unemployed persons in the United States and the national unemployment rate are produced from data collected in the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of over 60,000 households. A person's unemployment status is established by responses to a series of questions on whether they have a job or are on layoff, whether they want a job and are available to work, and what they have done to look for work in the preceding 4 weeks. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons as a percent of the labor force (employed and unemployed persons). See "Who is counted as unemployed?" for more information.

Statistics on persons receiving unemployment insurance benefits (sometimes called insured unemployment) in the United States are collected as a byproduct of unemployment insurance programs. Workers who lose their jobs and are covered by these programs typically file claims which serve as notice that they are beginning a period of unemployment. Claimants who qualify for benefits are counted in the insured unemployment figures. More information about the Unemployment Insurance program is available from the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, including weekly data on UI claims.

While not related to the national unemployment rate, UI claims data do serve as inputs into the calculation of state and local area unemployment estimates. See the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program for more information.

Can we PLEASE stop spreading this misinformation???

[serryjw]

9. NOW you beleive what the gov't is telling you?

Sorry, this is just Bushit. The sample is not large enough and who knows where these names comes from
quote.....
The Bureau of the Census conducts a monthly sample survey for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. There are approximately 55,000 eligible households in the sample. The sample is selected so as to be representative of the entire population of the United States.

end quote.......
http://www.dlt.ri.gov/lmi/faq/rate.htm

[TahitiNut]

12. It seems you have little or no training in mathematics or statistics.

Otherwise you'd not make such a ridiculous assertion. A sample size of 55,000 households is far larger than needed for all but the most detailed measures, to the level of accuracy presented. Laymen often make this fundamental misapprehension. I suggest you study a little probability and statistics in order to gain a better footing in the mathematics.

(Yes, I have a math undergraduate degree and taught high school math.)

[serryjw]

13. IF you made $100,000/year

and are now making $10/hour at a telemarketing job you are STILL unemployed by my definition. ASK your fellow DUers how many are working Bushit jobs because they can't find a job in their field. Sorry, you can take all your expertise in statistics, YOU obviously don't know you can make stats say anything you want them to say. All the information I posted proved that the administrations assertions are total Bushit.
I spent way to many years in market research, I know how to do a proper sampling.

[serryjw]

11. Why the unemployment number is much higher

quote........
What accounts for the gap between the two figures? The payroll survey is less likely to capture the self-employed, newly formed businesses, or domestic employees. So it could be that the millions of Americans who have been laid off are busy starting companies, or working full-time as self-employed consultants. All of this entrepreneurial energy would show up in the Household Survey and be good news for the economy.

Alternatively, the millions of Americans who are self-employed could simply be frustrated in their efforts to find full-time, salary-and-benefits-paying work at established companies. In other words, as Barry Ritholtz, chief market strategist at Maxim Group and an emerging blogger, has suggested, they're self-employed because they're unemployed. That would be bad news for the economy, and it probably wouldn't show up in the Household Survey.

I know way to many middle age 'consultants' that are TRYING to take their industry expertise and parlay it into a business. They work out of their homes, have no salary or benefits. When a REAL compnay starts their is 'seed' money available to give the owner a salary. IMHO, These are not real companies until they make some money.These people didn't do this by CHOICE, they had no other alternative. Try finding a job in your 50's when companies are worried about soaring healthcare costs.

http://www.slate.com/id/2094690/

[BuyingThyme]

6. If Iraq used the same standard for calculating the unemployment rate,

they'd be at 0%.

Conclusion: Iraq's economy is stronger than ours.

Not.

[joefree1]

7. Heard that the "good economic news" might be short lived

I heard that next year when the housing market bubble really burst the unemployment rate will really soar.