"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H.L. Mencken
Working people and funny numbers
The Labor Department that "releases" figures labeled unemployment rates for media hacks and bought and paid for institutional cheerleaders in academia pronounce that the current unemployment rate is 5.5%. There has been much rejoicing at propaganda outlets, primarily to tout the success of official policies. If you use the official numbers, which are certainly suspect, the number of people considered in the labor force (156,906,000) represent only 62.7% of the people who could work (250,080,000), which means that 37.3% of the people who could work (the non-institutionalized population between 16 and 54), don't work. A note: if you are 55 and over and do work then they count you as part of the employable population, but if you don't work, then you are not counted as seeking a job. I and a lot of other people in that category certainly consider themselves wanting and/or needing a job; so this figure is likely low. The number of able people not working has now reached levels equal to those when most women stayed in the home in the 1970s.
So, 57.2% of the working population has a job, 5.5% want to work and are actively seeking a job and 37.3% either have given up looking for a job, are rich enough that they don't need a job or just don't give a shit. As the total working population of people not working increases, it will be telling which of these categories increases the fastest; and their ain't a whole lot of new rich people these days.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/americans-not-labor-force-exce...
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Mark:
"...their ain't a whole lot of new rich people these days..."
I am a sovereign state. I am also "... the new rich..." It really wasn't that great of an accomplishment, with a population of 1 -- but it is an achievement.
My affluence came about through my divorce from measuring wealth in terms of "federal-reserve-notes". Oh, I keep some with me. Every day when I cross the border into a place they're calling "The-US" I find precious few merchants who would accept or even recognize anything other than FRN's. Ever now and again a clerk will hold the '20' I just handed her up to the light. I'll usually say, "that's counterfeit!". They generally stare back with that blank, suspicious appearance; although lately I've discovered a few will smile with a look of perception.
Which is another reason for my prosperity: I don't need their approval for my self-esteem. Or the approval of those psychopaths who make up that abstraction called "the state". Because I now understand that anybody within that group, in order to maintain their employment and hope to rise to the top of their "division", will prevaricate.
Obfuscation has been the bulwark of the science of rulership since the very first khans discovered they could become governors and senators and kings by allowing the inhabitants of the conquered villages to remain alive and continue to produce and trade; rather than to rape all the women, then slaughter all the men, women and children.
Obfuscation is the bulwark of what has recently been defined as "Stockholm Syndrome" -- the desire of the conquered to gain recognition and amenities from their conquerors (also known as "patriotism").
The enormity of the truth is incredible. Sam
Good job, Mark, in questioning the authority of government numbers.
Here are some more funny ones.
Assuming that the population is distributed evenly by year and that the life expectancy is 80, there are about (320/80 =) 4 million alive per year of age. Further assume that people retire at 62 on the fortune they have amassed (like Sam, for example) and begin work at 16, there are (4 x (62-16) =) 184 million people of working age.
However, half of them (92 million) are ladies, and Nature has equipped those best to mind the children, so not many of them ought to be out there laboring. Hence the working population "ought" to be 92 million men, plus a few exceptional ladies - say, round it up to 100 million.
But the referenced article says that 148.3 million people are actually employed. Therefore the unemployed number negative 48 million and the over-employment rate is 48%.
Lies, damned lies, and satistics.