Unemployment Rate Drops, But So Does Participation Rate

No wonder the unemployment rate dropped two tenths of a percentage point in November -- from 7.9 pct to the 7.7 pct announced this morning. So did the labor force, which represents the "whole" from which the fraction of unemployed is derived.

The Labor Department said the participation rate -- the labor force as a percentage of the population -- declined by 0.2 percent, from 63.8 percent to 63.6 percent.

 

 

For some context, the Labor Force Participation Rate was 66.3 pct in Nov. 1992 when Bill Clinton was elected, 66.9 eight years later when George Bush was elected, and 65.8 in November 2008, when Barack Obama was elected.

It then dropped a full point during Obama's first year, a tad in his second, another tad in his third, and dropped into the 63-range this year, where it has remained throughout the year.... in spite of Obama's claim to have created "millions" of new jobs in his first term. Go figure.

Oh, and wouldn't you know it? 73% of New Jobs Created in Last 5 Months Are in Government.

The Unprecedented Won is nothing if not predictable :/

 

 

 

Comments

[Mannie Sherberg]

I've changed my mind. There really is such a thing as Utopia -- and we may all live long enough to see it right here on our own little planet. The official arrival of Utopia will come on the fast-approaching day when every employable American is employed by the United States government. Any BtB reader who asks, "Isn't this what they tried in the Soviet Union?" is a grinch who just wants to steal Christmas.