LOOKING For Full Time Employment

The official unemployment rate fell to 9.4% in December, down from 9.8% in November – which was the largest one month drop in unemployment since 1998. It was reported that the economy added 103,000 new jobs last month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which maintains the country’s official records of employment, reports that the number of jobless persons dropped by 556,000 to 14.5 million people.

Congress was busy last month before the holiday recess. During the lame duck session, many new laws were pushed through before the Democrat Congressional majority ended. The Bush tax cuts were extended, as were unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed, and a new Russian Arms Treaty was passed … and the list goes on! Now, the new 112th Congress is in session and their “to-do list” is quite ambitious, with their first order of business – to REPEAL Healthcare Reform.

Ok, so what’s really going on here? Let’s “check” the facts using our Checks and Balances process.

The number of unemployed Americans is the LOWEST since April of 2009, and at 9.4%, a significant drop from the post-recession high of 10.1% in October of 2009. The unemployment rate is calculated by the number of people looking for full time employment divided by the number of jobs in the workforce. An unemployed worker, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is defined as a capable and willing worker, who is NOT currently employed, but is actively LOOKING for full time employment. They categorize these unemployed workers as “job losers” and “long-term unemployed.” The long term unemployed is a “job loser” who has been looking for employment for 27 weeks or longer.

What’s not included in the official unemployment rate are those who are only “marginally attached” to the labor force, which describes individuals who were NOT employed, but were available for work, and had looked for employment over the past 12 months. “Discouraged workers” is another group that falls under the “marginally attached” category. They aren’t counted because they are not “actively” looking for work. There is also the “underutilized” category, which refers to the number of people employed “part-time” for economic reasons, or because they were unable to find full-time work. When you look at the collective number of ALL categories of workers, the actual unemployment and underemployment rate today is closer to 16.7%.