US News: ‘A rising unemployment rate is actually one of the best signs yet that the economy is bouncing back’

by | May 7, 2010 | Headline News | 17 comments

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    The Labor department reports that our official unemployment rate has risen to 9.9% and the official “underemployment” rate is now at 17.1%.

    Not to worry though, because according to some, this is a very positive sign of recovery.

    US News says that “a rising unemployment rate is actually one of the best signs yet that the economy is bouncing back.” Yes, you read that right.

    Here’s their reasoning:

    It sounds dreadful. After drifting down consistently since last fall, the unemployment rate has suddenly shot up again, from 9.7 percent in March to 9.9 percent in April. But don’t despair: A rising unemployment rate is actually one of the best signs yet that the economy is bouncing back.

    The unemployment rate rose for the right reason. Instead of shedding jobs, employers added 290,000 jobs in April, the strongest showing since 2007. The reason the unemployment rate went up is that a lot more people are suddenly looking for work. The government said that the labor force swelled by 805,000 people in April. That’s more than three times the number of new jobs, so the proportion of people looking for a job but unable to find one went up. Still, that big increase in the labor force marks an important shift in sentiment among people on the fringes of the economy.

    One of the most worrisome trends throughout the recession and early stages of the recovery has been the declining size of the U.S. labor force itself. By late last year, so many unemployed people had given up looking for a job that the labor force participation rate–the percent of adults who either have a job or are looking for one–had fallen to a 25-year low. Others who might have entered the labor force–recent graduates, stay-at-home spouses–decided not to.

    ..

    About 195,000 formerly discouraged workers have now reentered the labor force, presumably because they think the chances of finding a job are getting better. That’s a tiny fraction of the 6.7 million Americans who count as the long-term unemployed, but it’s still a break in the gloom.

    Call us crazy, but we think that formerly “discouraged” workers were discouraged because there are no jobs to be had. In fact, 80% of those who lost their jobs last summer still can’t find work today!

    And the reason for them reentering the workforce is not because they think the chances of finding a job are getting better, but because they are broke – they’ve used up their savings, taken out what they can from their retirement accounts, maxed out their credit cards, and their unemployment benefits have run out. We can’t think of a better motivator to start looking for a job than this.

    The fact that these formerly “discouraged” workers are now being counted is an indicator of the severity of the problem. This is not positive news.

    Nice try, though, US News.

    A quick note on the 290,000 jobs added by “employers” last month: According to this report, 66,000 of those jobs were census workers, which means in about 6 months those jobs will be gone, and another 188,000 jobs we related to the birth/death statistic. Thus, we added only 36,000 jobs, significantly less than the government reports and not as bright a number as US News, et. al. make it out to be.

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      17 Comments

      1. Last night, late at night, while sitting in the computer watching few youtube videos, I heard a strange noise. Very strange indeed, coming from outside. I thought that it was a dog or some other animal, in pain. I shut off the sound from my PC so that I could pay a better attention. It was not a dog! It was, in reality, a man, crying! The crying lasted about an hour. It was a man living next door. I don’t know the man, but it was very painful to hear a grown up man crying like that. I couldn’t sleep all night thinking about that. I didn’t know what to do, but since I felt that the person was supposely not at risk, I did nothing, until the crying stopped, so I went to sleep. The next day I found out through some other neighbor that he had been unemployed for a while and as he exhausted all his benefits, he and his family are facing an eviction, among other personal problems due to that. This is sad. So heart-breaking. The government must do something about this. Situations like this one can not go on. This is America, the land of the brave, the land of many good people. Those caught in all the traps of big corps must be rescued, none of their fault! Please stop the pain, please stop the desperation! Give those with no present solutions time and hope!

      2. So by that philosophy, if the unemployment rate had gone down to 9.5%, the media would’ve said it was “disappointing”…? We live in bizzarro world, I swear.

      3. “WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.”

        Big Brother

      4. The government is doing something about it.  They are giving the bankers whatever they want because that is what they are paid to do.  After all, they are the debtors in a bankruptcy discharge.

        We still have a long way to fall. 

        Aside from the lack of jobs, you can also expect the local corporation posing as government to issue more traffic tickets and anything else they can do to raise revenues.

        The people are damned as long as they look to the government for those things they should be seeking from God, no matter which view of God you have.

        The governments motto:

        “What People?”

      5. Obama will never notice.

        Why?    Because un-employment is almost non-existent  in Washington D.C.   

        Out of a job?  No home?  Nothing to eat?

        Blame Obama and his Democrats.  

        By the way, Michelle Obama has (22) assistants to ‘help’ her get through each day at the White House.   Yes, (22) to service her’ majesty’s every need.     

        See link below.

        http://www.wnd.com/index.php?pageId=105957

      6. I blame both parties. The Democrats and Republicans are bankrupting us. The republicans continue the military industrial complex the dems continue to give entitlements that are unpaid able. We need a third party. A constitutional party. The republican wont do nothing when they reach power. We need to end the fed,the entitlements,the war machine,spending,pork barrel spending , executive orders ,the war powers act,the Patriot Act ,and the lobbying. We need to stop depending on the two parties and start a new party.

      7. Things are going so well here in the U.S. that the Obama administration has (2) represenatives in Basel Switzerland this weekend so we can give the European banks more U.S. taxpayer money to bail them out of their crisis.  

        We’re talking about the U.S. bailout of 1100 European banks.    

        Some more of that Obama ‘hope and change transparency’ you won’t see on U.S. network television.   The mainstream media in the United States is aligned with Obama and Bernanke in their treasonous activities.  

        Dump the dollar, buy physical gold and silver for you and yours.   Your life might depend on it.   Hyperinflation is going to follow all this money printing.      

        http://www.zerohedge.com/article/fed-preparing-bail-out-world-again-wsj-reports-dollar-swap-lines-likely-be-reopened-fed

        http://www.zerohedge.com/article/euro-surges-rumor-ecb-will-bail-out-1100-european-banks-takes-hold 

      8. Jane,

        You inferred that The Government must do something about this. Well, they have. They are the cause. They must now fail so the people can prosper. Unfortunately it must get much worse before it gets better. The longer they can stretch out this bad spot, the worse it will be. I’m ready for full on, unadulterated collapse.

        They caused the bubbles, now, the inflation bubble and the commercial real estate bubble is about to pop also. The only thing Governments can do is kill people and steal from people. All government beyond a certain level is evil and we have been WAY beyond that level for about 140 years.

        I’ve been prepared for these times as much as possible. I feel sorry the the man you talked about. It is truly sad that he could not see as I have seen. I wish we could do something for him. But, I don’t know what. Probably the best thing to do would be to vote against every incumbent this November. That will help in the long run. A batch of cookies may help in the short run. Let him know you care. In good times I’d be tempted to drop $500 or $1000 to pay some rent or buy some food for strangers to ease the pain. I feel bad not being able to do that now. Like a squirrel with the impending winter coming up, I know my acorns are my survival.

        It is getting so bad. I have several friends that have been out of work for over a year. They’re shacking up with other friends. It is a mess.

        This thing has to blow up before the evil that has its stranglehold on the world will let go. We can’t rebuild yet because the Obama administration is afraid we’ll trample the green shoots. They are liars and treasonous. They have caused this with the help of pre-existing evil. It is all their fault, its just that “they” were elected before and again.

        Food/Fuel/Firearms/Ammo/Silver/Chickens/Gardening. Thats what I’m investing in. I may have to live like a pauper, but, if hyperinflation hits, I can shut off the power and sell a bar of silver once in a while to pay the mortgage.

        I’ll pray for the man next door, that, through you, he can be helped. You might be surprised how much help a skinny little weak child can be to a drowning man.

        Go tell him you heard his cry and you want to know how to help. Just your willingness to help might help him hang on just long enough for the next break that keeps him in the black.

      9. Call ME CRAZY!, but I think that many “white collar” workers STAY unemployed for very long periods of time, whereas “blue collar” guys go  back to work much sooner.  Must have something to do with the whole “produces nothing” versus “produces something” argument……….

      10. Johnny V,

        YOU’RE CRAZY! Happy now?

        Actually, I think the rate in my state is about the same for either. Reason? White collar guys save a bunch of money and are able to survive comfortably on what they save and what they’ve paid into the system while blue collar workers are used to living on less anyway and they don’t mind the vacation.

        Personally, I’ve paid into that fund for over 20 years and NEVER collected. If I get laid off, yeah, I’ll milk it. Its my money and I want it back. They forced me to pay it so it is *NOT* insurance. Thats a lie.

        I’m sort of a pale blue collar worker. IT people are like that. We’re paid like white collar workers but work like blue collar workers in that we have to produce something consistently, even if its not a hard good.

      11. Johnny V. I am not sure what state you live in but I have employed people in three. In my experience unemployment insurance is paid for by the employer not the employee. Is it different in your state? If not, when you choose to ‘milk’ the system, your lack of initiative will increase your employer’s unemployment insurance rate. When that happens she may decide she cannot afford to hire you back if the increase it too high. I would double check that paystub of yours.

      12. The Government has the power to publish, they have the power to lie.  Since the numbers are estimates, I dismiss them all as bull.  When it comes to numbers, our government lies.

        Since nearly all business have internet access, require all employers to login weekly and disclose the number of all full and part time employees. 

        Have this actual number of actual full time workers replace the bogus unemployment rate % number.

        Today, the actual number of people in America can only be estimated and currently the government can’t come up with the true actual number employed during any given week, the unemployment rate number is total bull.

        I wouldn’t be surprised is there is really less than 80 million people working full time during any given week.  That would make the unemployment rate over 17%.

      13. Hi Tina;

        I’m employed in Washington State.  In our state, god only knows who the fuck is paying the bill……..I don’t recall making any comments about “milking the system”.  I think that I was talking about a difference between blue collar workers (those with a broad based marketable skill) and white collar workers (those with a much more narrowly marketed skill, much more specialized).   Additionally, I chose to incorporate a “dig” against these people (whom I perceive to “produce” nothing).  I don’t really know whether they produce anything or not, but I’m willing to bet they don’t.

        As far as my employer goes, I can tell you this.  In a small company (between 40 and 100 employees) I am one of FIVE people primarily responsible for the success of the company.  The individuals above me own the company, the ones who are my peers are foremen in their respective trades.

        My paystub is just fine.  I don’t “milk the system”.  My employer is very happy with me, and I work VERY hard to make sure it stays that way.  Additionally, there is no “she” in the chain of command.

      14. Tina: In Arizona, both employer and employee pay into the fund.

      15. NetRanger,
        Thank You for your kind words!
        The world can still be a good place to live because of people like you.
        I will try my best.
        Best Wishes to you!

      16.  The statement that higher unemployment is a good sign, does this make sense to anyone??  Im not the smartest guy, but if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck its a duck.  This is complete hog wash. Were being taken for fools.

      17. The problem here is we have two lies, one built upon another, as some of the readers and author have already pointed out. The 290,000 jobs “created” were mostly government created census workers which don’t add any real wealth to our economy. Worse, they are only temporary jobs. Then you have the birth/death model adding 188,000 jobs which is just pure fiction. Who can really verify this anyway? No one.

        Then this lie is compounded by falsely presuming that the unemployment pct increase is actually a good thing because it means more people are looking for a job. Says who? This is a logical fallacy where the conclusion is incorrectly drawn from the facts. Perhaps as Mac pointed out, they’re beyond broke and have used up all their savings. They don’t know what else to do or where to turn. This lie #2 is used to propel the markets even further.

        Or, perhaps they have been duped into thinking things are turning around:

        “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.” – Adolph Hitler

        I think Hitler was onto something. The facts don’t matter, only the perception does. Whey else would people behave the way they are today?

        My wife works in a local pre-school as a teacher. Starting in mid-January the paychecks “stopped” coming in. Her boss kept making excuses to her employees. We are now in May and even though my wife has been compensated for most of her time, her paychecks still have not caught up. The rest of the staff is getting anxious as they need the $ to pay their bills, but ironically NO ONE seems to feel the business is in trouble. Then we find out the other day that the boss can’t pay her rent. Uh-oh. The downward spiral has begun. Still these employees continue on as if nothing is wrong – going on vacations with money they don’t have and buying crap they don’t need.

        I just got word that my in-laws property taxes are going up 25%, and that’s assuming they get the requisite state aid which they probably won’t.  Still they speak of things turning around and it’s just “got to get better.”

        My point is reality doesn’t seem to matter. Only what each of us makes of it.

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