Thank you to people like Msol, who clearly knows much more about these things than I do. This thread is incredibly useful in helping me understand this stuff, so that I can explain it to my right-wing father, who just keeps shouting "0bama's cooking the books on unemployment!"

Now, can someone explain the seasonal adjustments cited in these tables, which is apparently another nefarious Fartbongo plot to cook the books?

Cewley: what a shock that this birdbrain comes up with this now that Chimpy McFlightsuit is gone.

I'll never get tired of that.

not much on repeating myself, but: HOW farkING STUPID ARE YOY CLOWNS?

Mavent: chi_tino: If employment is going up so much, why is GDP barely growing and at less than the rate of inflation?


Are you really that stupid? It's not like it takes a genius to figure out that we're trying to recover from an artificial housing bubble that created, then destroyed, billions of dollars in assets. The Republican mind astounds me. "Hey, times were GREAT when we were trashing the world economy and running up huge amounts of unsustainable mortgage derivatives! Why can't things be like that again?"

That's quite the nonsequitur. Are you attempting to directly link asset values with employment and GDP? Are you saying that GDP rises and falls by 10+% a year like the stock market?

GDP tracks employment, and both of these measures haven't been going anywhere. The fact that we were offering 100-to-1 leverage to welfare recipients to buy real estate is another point entirely.

olddinosaur: No President has ever been re--elected with unemployment over 7.2%, fact.

Then I guess whoever beats Obama in November had better count on being a one termer because no president is going to be able to get the unemployment rate down to 7% by 2016.

That sounds pretty reasonable & I'd support it -- provided it takes effect on (say) January 1, 2013. At least that way it's nonpartisan.

And I suppose those that went past their unemployment benefits are being accounted for.... right?

I have an idea! Lets blame it on the GOP that someone there pointed out the low unemployment number! YAH!!!

Guess what? Those that fell off the roll call, but are non-employed, are a number unaccounted for in the current methodology for figuring out unemployment numbers (past their unemployment benefit limit). Do you think they all died or moved to another country? Or are they burdening the existing infrastructure for welfare and other publicly funded programs?

Don't be naive and assume this is a "party" related issue. Our economy sucks. And it looks like neither the current administration or in the near future contenders are up to making the situation better.

But if you want to spew party affiliated crap... go ahead and keep peeing into the wind and expect different results every time you unzip.

Here's number that you'd think would think would be easy to find, but isn't:

Only 40% of Americans are employed. That's counting retirees, children, the imprisoned, the invalid, etc.

That number's not going to get any better as the Boomers start to retire. It's really terrifying to think about.

Msol: This is so farking pathetic. This morning on my way to work I was listening to Rush try to explain the Labour Force Participation Rate. He said that it's the amount of jobs available.

Can't the people even THINK remotely about any issue at all? Motherfarkers, all of them.

Liberals listen to Rush? Not a single conservative I know does. Is that like the Howard Stern thing?

chi_tino: why is GDP barely growing and at less than the rate of inflation?

Thirty years of stagnant wages....

Nina_Hartley's_Ass: And he measures his dick in centimeters.

I just checked and I gotta say 19.6cm sounds pretty hefty!

Oh what a surprise, it's this incredible tool:



I'd forgotten he still occupies a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that could otherwise be employed by a non-retard.

THANKS LOADS, east San Diego County, you mouthbreathing morans.

cameroncrazy1984: Bout to break that record this November.

Yes, we know we have an utterly dishonest media that will not only not hold Obama accountable for anything but will actively work to cover for him, but thanks for reminding us.

One more time: Statistics 101: "Figures lie and liars figure". HOW farkING STUPID ARE YOU? THESE PEOPLE ARE NARCISSISTIC SOCIOPATHS WHO LIE EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO NEED TO!

/my mother calls me cynical
//I tell her I'm a realist
///She is probably right.

gameshowhost: [hunter.house.gov image 640x83]

I'm imagining this guy in a red argyle sweater, tan trousers and red shoes.



Why, yes, in fact, he IS retarded!

Rush bad, Bill Maher good, 1 million dollars to Obama.

Msol: This is so farking pathetic. This morning on my way to work I was listening to Rush try to explain the Labour Force Participation Rate. He said that it's the amount of jobs available.

Can't the people even THINK remotely about any issue at all? Motherfarkers, all of them.

Ya, real easy for you to say, "This morning on my way to work".

//suck it because those who don't have jobs CAN'T "even THINK remotely about any issue at all? Motherfarkers," That's you

Thunderpipes: Rush bad, Bill Maher good, 1 million dollars to Obama.

This retarded non-sequiter is brought you you by......well, no one, anymore.

If you feel bad for Rush, you can send him a Pick-me-up Bouquet from Pro Flowers.

randomjsa: Yes, we know we have an utterly dishonest media that will not only not hold Obama accountable for anything but will actively work to cover for him, but thanks for reminding us.

And yet you have no proof that is the case.

Just because they don't report every retarded thing the right-wing derposphere comes up with doesn't mean they're covering for Obama.

You need to go to Walgreen's and get some Preperation H stat!

mudesi: People who vote republican need to be sterilized.

Thank you for you insightful post.

NewportBarGuy: I think they are Mexican and Salvadoran versions of U-2.

Do they have similar versions of Bono and The Edge?

Well, yes. But they are called Bueno and el Edge.

I have a job only because I created a job for myself. If I had waited for someone to call me back I would still be jobless. I am doing better than before I lost my job. So I feel very lucky and am grateful.
What happens to those who don't know how to create a job for them self. We are in bad shape but I don't know we would be better off if we had a different president. This just may be one of those things we need to ride out.

You farking clowns will never know what any real numbers are. Stupid is as stupid does..

randomjsa: As long as we retroactively apply this standard going back at least 20 years so we have a basis for comparison on unemployment rates, this is fine.

And you're an absolute fool if you think the unemployment rate is actually less than 9% right now no matter what standards are in use.

I must give you credit for saying something reasonable.

No matter which set of numbers you look at, the unemployment rate has been slowly but surely going down. Despite all the efforts of the GOP.

Msol: This is so farking pathetic. This morning on my way to work I was listening to Rush try to explain the Labour Force Participation Rate. He said that it's the amount of jobs available.

Can't the people even THINK remotely about any issue at all? Motherfarkers, all of them.

The real unemployment rate isn't an issue? Seems like kind of a big deal if our government is deceiving us.

But nah, Obama gets a pass.

What is the current bootstraps rate?

Pitiful, just pitiful. Why are these people still comprising a major political party?

Msol: EnviroDude: how many million people have lost their jobs and not found one since Jan 2009? who cares if they are counted or not as long as it makes Obama look better in the press. It isn't like they aren't going to lie to make him look better anyway.

Well, the data I found here (new window) says that 5.4 million people have been unemployed for 27 weeks or more. I'll see what else I can find.

Don't bother. That douchebag doesn't want an honest discussion about unemployment.

randomjsa: As long as we retroactively apply this standard going back at least 20 years so we have a basis for comparison on unemployment rates, this is fine.

And you're an absolute fool if you think the unemployment rate is actually less than 9% right now no matter what standards are in use.

You should have stuck with the first sentence and left off the second. The second means nothing when it isn't relative to the first.

randomjsa: cameroncrazy1984: Bout to break that record this November.

Yes, we know we have an utterly dishonest media that will not only not hold Obama accountable for anything but will actively work to cover for him, but thanks for reminding us.

Uh huh. That utterly dishonest media that you can't actually prove is dishonest, it's just what Fox News tells you.

gaslight: The economy has changed, and demographics aren't the same, so be wary of making multi decade comparisons.

For example, in the 1970s, assembly lines, starting with cars, had their numbers reduced with power assistance and then with automation in the 1980s. The layoffs among blue collar workers were so pronounced that politicians deregulated the real-estate finance industry in order to ensure that blue collar workers had some sort of jobs.
In the 1980s and 1990s, workplaces were computerized, thus all of the clerking jobs went away,
In the 1990s and 00s, networking demolished the middleman businesses and lengthened supply chains.

The result: amazing productivity. The trouble is that when productivity (and therefore GDP) goes up, the level unemployment also goes up. It doesn't matter what you do, those jobs are never, ever coming back.

What to do? What to do?

This will be a critical problem for everyone to solve in order to maintain social cohesion.

If the GDP is going up, then the money going around in a country should also be going up.

Thus we have more money, but less actual "physical" work that people are having to do.

The logical conclusion would be that everyone gets a raise while getting their hours cut. Same basic take home pay, but shorter work periods (maybe a 3-4 day work week instead of a 5 day).

Ideally, this situation should be full of win.

Instead, they laid off the people who weren't needed for that particular physical work and kept the other people working 40-60hr weeks. Ensuring that one side slowly slips into abject poverty, while the others die young from stress. Those in abject poverty are brought up to take the place of the dead worker and are grateful for it.

/it's farking evil.

SamFlagg: First things first.

1.) GOP clearly only wanting to report the number because it makes the president look bad.
2.) The only reason the number looks as good as it does is because the government (no matter who's in charge) uses the data that looks the best, which then gives everyone who doesn't understand what the unemployment numbers mean, a false sense of how bad the unemployment problem is.

Solution: The U-5 should become the official measure "after" election day. That way we track a more accurate number and nobody makes any political hay off of it.

Uh, no, if they wanted to use the data that looks best they would use U1. Dumbass. They use U2 because they have been using it for a long damned time.

Go ahead. As we said in the "70's, "Major in the minors". Stupid farks.

Another G&T and off to bed.

crabsno termites: THEY. ARE. ALL. farkING. CON. MEN.

(( well, the five that aren't (1 senate, 4 house) ARE. farkING. PERVERTS!))

How stupid are you farking people?

Go back to your Youtube comments.

crabsno termites: Go ahead. As we said in the "70's, "Major in the minors". Stupid farks.

Another G&T and off to bed.

I am betting halfway through "off to bed" means "passed out in a chair".

Mrtraveler01: mechaaardvark: randomjsa: As long as we retroactively apply this standard going back at least 20 years so we have a basis for comparison on unemployment rates, this is fine.


Try this site (new window)

Looks like a better laid out version of Time Cube.

Oh, Jesus. We found an alt. I forget who was touting the whacky shiat but he just got killed in a thread.

GORDON: Msol: This is so farking pathetic. This morning on my way to work I was listening to Rush try to explain the Labour Force Participation Rate. He said that it's the amount of jobs available.

Can't the people even THINK remotely about any issue at all? Motherfarkers, all of them.

The real unemployment rate isn't an issue? Seems like kind of a big deal if our government is deceiving us.

But nah, Obama gets a pass.

The "real" unemployment rate is going down at a faster rate than the U2 so I am not sure why you are so "concerned".

Sabyen91: crabsno termites: THEY. ARE. ALL. farkING. CON. MEN.

(( well, the five that aren't (1 senate, 4 house) ARE. farkING. PERVERTS!))

How stupid are you farking people?

Go back to your Youtube comments.

Sabyen91: crabsno termites: Go ahead. As we said in the "70's, "Major in the minors". Stupid farks.

Sabyen91: crabsno termites: Go ahead. As we said in the "70's, "Major in the minors". Stupid farks.

Another G&T and off to bed.

I am betting halfway through "off to bed" means "passed out in a chair".



Another G&T and off to bed.

I am betting halfway through "off to bed" means "passed out in a chair".

Never been on youtube 'cept for music.

Bed = reading ( tolstoy, capstick, "mental junk food:").


fark you very much

/66year old vet with 2 yrs combat in RVN when you were still shiatting your diapers.

// KISS MY ASS!

Skleenar: Thunderpipes: Rush bad, Bill Maher good, 1 million dollars to Obama.

This retarded non-sequiter is brought you you by......well, no one, anymore.

If you feel bad for Rush, you can send him a Pick-me-up Bouquet from Pro Flowers.

I feel bad for you. You liberal morons have no morals at all. You really are just terrible people, like horses.

crabsno termites: Sabyen91: crabsno termites: THEY. ARE. ALL. farkING. CON. MEN.

(( well, the five that aren't (1 senate, 4 house) ARE. farkING. PERVERTS!))

How stupid are you farking people?

Go back to your Youtube comments.

Sabyen91: crabsno termites: Go ahead. As we said in the "70's, "Major in the minors". Stupid farks.

Sabyen91: crabsno termites: Go ahead. As we said in the "70's, "Major in the minors". Stupid farks.

Another G&T and off to bed.

I am betting halfway through "off to bed" means "passed out in a chair".



Another G&T and off to bed.

I am betting halfway through "off to bed" means "passed out in a chair".

Never been on youtube 'cept for music.

Bed = reading ( tolstoy, capstick, "mental junk food:").


fark you very much

/66year old vet with 2 yrs combat in RVN when you were still shiatting your diapers.

// KISS MY ASS!

Damn, I am sorry, Rambo. I didn't mean to imply you are a very drunk, very angry man. Please don't blow up my house.

Not angry, not drunk, just can't believe you youngsters are so naive.

crabsno termites: Not angry, not drunk, just can't believe you youngsters are so naive.

Did you just say you are not drunk?

Sabyen91: crabsno termites: Not angry, not drunk, just can't believe you youngsters are so naive.

Did you just say you are not drunk?

You do realize there are benefits in taking the high road... right? Cleaner air, better sleeping, more self-respect, better looking chicks (SAY What?), etc.

/Just saying

CasperImproved: Sabyen91: crabsno termites: Not angry, not drunk, just can't believe you youngsters are so naive.

Did you just say you are not drunk?

You do realize there are benefits in taking the high road... right? Cleaner air, better sleeping, more self-respect, better looking chicks (SAY What?), etc.

/Just saying

Pfft, where the hell do you think you are?

Sabyen91: crabsno termites: Not angry, not drunk, just can't believe you youngsters are so naive.

Did you just say you are not drunk?

Yup. Liberal arts education and have difficulty with comprehension?