The Core Rate Of Unemployment Is Horse Crap

Today the federal government released its unemployment report for February 2010.  The official unemployment rate held steady at 9.7%.  Some economists welcomed this as a sign of a stabilizing economy.  Perhaps someone should tell these economists that the official unemployment rate is misleading.  It is a sign of horse crap.  Why?

The official unemployment rate leaves out those folks that are discouraged and have ceased looking for work.  It also leaves out those that are “under-employed;” those that no longer have full-time jobs but have settled for part-time work.  In other words, the official unemployment rate  . . .

leaves out  . . .A LOT OF UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE!

The moment an unemployed person drops out of the job search process because they are discouraged and have ceased looking, they are no longer officially counted as unemployed.  They end up in a more obscure (but more accurate) statistic referred to as the “U-6” unemployment rate.  In the same report, this down-played rate is over 16%!

Some of you may remember an essay I did a few years ago where I criticized the “core rate of inflation” which was an official government statistic which tracked inflation and described it as “the rate of inflation. . .excluding inflation.”

The statistical wizards at the federal government have done to unemployment reporting what they did to inflation reporting.  It is time for some observers to call the official unemployment what it should be called:  “the core rate of unemployment.”  That way the satiric observers among us can describe the official unemployment rate as “the rate of unemployment excluding unemployment.”

Personal strategy:  Unemployed or not, I think that everyone should use their God-given talents and abilities to start their own business.  It could be home-based and done in your spare time.  Don’t just diversify your investment portfolio, diversity your time and effort with active strategies for earning money.  Take a look at the audio seminar Home Business Goldmine which you can download instantly at www.supermoneylinks.com.

If you have lost your job or you worry about your current job, you have the ability to generate income.  A part-time home business is a great way to start.  I am I the process of creating both free and low-cost resources to help folks earn money so feel free to stay informed with my developments at www.twitter.com/paulmlad.

BIO:

Paul Mladjenovic, CFP is a national seminar leader, author of the books Precious Metals Investing for Dummies and Stock Investing for Dummies and the editor of Prosperity Alert, a free financial newsletter available at www.SuperMoneyLinks.com.