Work force dropouts keep a lid on the unemployment rate, for now (2 million dropped out since May)

[pissedoff01]

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=9515982

Economy 101: Work force dropouts keep a lid on the unemployment rate, for now
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER AP Economics Writer

Nearly 2 million Americans have dropped out of the work force since last May — and if they hadn't, the unemployment rate would have risen a lot more dramatically over the last several months. Either way, joblessness is quite high. The Labor Department said Friday the unemployment rate remained at 10 percent last month, the same as in November and just below the 10.1 percent rate reached in October. The October figure, which was revised down from 10.2 percent, was the highest in 26 years.

Employers cut 85,000 jobs last month, but hiring and firing isn't the only thing that affects the unemployment rate. Also important is the overall size of the labor force, which is the number of people working and actively looking for work. The unemployed who aren't searching for jobs — either because they're discouraged or because they're returning to school or caring for a family member, among other reasons — aren't included in the labor force and aren't counted in the unemployment rate.

Since May, the labor force has dropped to 153.1 million from nearly 155 million, a 1.2 percent decline. More than 660,000 people exited in December, the most in any single month in 14 years. Had all those people remained in the work force and hunted for jobs, the December unemployment rate would have been 11 percent instead...

[EFerrari]

1. I heard on NPR that counting the uncounted drop outs and the

under-employed, it's more like 17%.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. That can't be right. Everything is getting all better now.

All the economists are saying so.

Invest, invest, be happy!