Jobs Report, January 2015 January 9, 2015
Posted by geoff in News.trackback
It is with very mixed feelings that I put up my monthly series of employment and exports posts. I don’t want to take any attention away from the loss of this blog’s founder and spiritual leader, Michael. On the other hand, one of his proudest moments was seeing The Chart (the chart comparing the Obama administration’s job predictions versus reality) go viral and put some wind underneath the GOP’s wings.
This isn’t The Chart, because I think the basic measures of unemployment became meaningless 4 years ago. Instead, I plot the ratio of full-time employment to the civilian population (based on the Household Survey). That gives you a measure of how many “real” jobs there are versus how many mouths there are to feed. Kind of an “Atlas Shrugged” index of misery.
This month, the BLS tells us that the U-3 unemployment rate has dropped to 5.6%, which is starting to look pretty normal. If you’re feeling like things still aren’t that rosy, it’s probably because you’re a racist, and because of this chart:
It was a good jobs report, but we still have a long, long way to go.
You are awesome , Geoff.
No worries about the other thread.
Folks who want to will know how to get there and comment. And just so you know ‘Bat-Bear’ has a new home with Peaches, Rosie, Steven and me in our home. Please hug Liz for me. *sniff*
Thanks, Geoff.
When I look how many times and ways Obama has messed with the numbers to make himself look good (on paper) I wonder if his plan to give two years of ”free” community college to any person who can maintain a C average figures into keeping potential workers out of the official workforce.
Opinions?