Unemployment - what exactly does that mean? Part II

Let’s consider the formula for unemployment. The unemployed labor force are those who are willing and able to work for pay. Seems simple enough so far but hold on. However, you must have been looking for work in the last 4 weeks.

So let’s say you have been looking for work for the last six months but 5 weeks ago your car broke down and you could not afford to look for work without the transportation. Are you considered unemployed? Not according to the formula. You fall into the black whole of not employed or not employed and not entered into the calculation.

So you have no job, you have lost your house and you cannot fix your car and cannot put food on the table but hey unemployment and the economy are stable, why aren’t you happy? Unemployed classification also does not include those who are in prison (1.5% of the US population) or homemakers, even those who are now homemakers because daycare is too expensive.

What about the retirees forced to retire early? They are unemployed, right? Wrong. Here is the biggest blow of all. All these students who are graduating with a Bachelors or anything higher, if they cannot find a worthwhile job they are not part of the calculation for the unemployment rate. If you identify those who are unemployed you must define those who are employed. Again not so simple or accurate.

Continue to Unemployment Part III