Unemployment down to 6.7 percent, not 6.66?

The unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent. Don’t celebrate.


By Neil Irwin


January 10 at 9:42 am



A tradition like no other: The jobs sign as an illustration of our jobs report story. (Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images)

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The unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent, which is the lowest since October 2008. But this apparent good news has a dark lining -- 347,000 people dropped out of the labor force (that is, are no longer looking for work) while only 143,000 additional people reported having a job. Interestingly, a broader measure of unemployment that also captures people who have given up looking for a job out of frustration didn'tdidn’t budge, remaining at 13.1 percent. 

Source

Flashback to the Fall of 2008, when President George W. Bush addressed the nation regarding the subprime mortgage crisis, toxic assets, and the need to pump $700 Billion into the federal government to avoid a financial collapse.

Just a few days after his inauguration in 2009, President Barack Obama called for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to jump start the economy; proposed cost $787 Billion.

Ever since taking office the Obama Administration has devised several techniques to improve the economic condition of the nation:

1. Shovel Ready Jobs;
2. Extension of Unemployment Benefits to 99 weeks;
3. Cash for Clunkers;
4.  And several other measures that didn't amount to much...

Remember the Recovery Summer of 2010?

Ever since I can remember (perhaps, the last 5 years) the Federal Reserve has been pumping $85 Billion per month into the economy:

The Federal Reserve (and other Central Banks) have been 'printing' money in recent years under various code-names, including Quantitive Easing (QE 1, 2, & 3), LTRO, SMP, TWIST, TARP and TALF, in order to bring unemployment down & speed up the economy. This article explains the failure behind the current money printing scheme and how banks, not people, get the money.

http://demonocracy.info/infographics/usa/federal_reserve-qe3/money_printing-2012-2013.html

Photo (Courtesy)  http://www.npr.org/2013/12/17/251796694/year-in-numbers-the-federal-reserves-85-billion-question


In December 2013, the Federal Reserve hinted that it might 'reduce' the Quantitative Easing to a smaller amount...


In January 2014 we hear President Barack Obama talking about wage disparity and Income Inequality; parroting the Roman Pontiff's latest critique of the Capitalist Financial System and its Trickle Down Economics.

Poverty?

Then, yesterday (01/21/2014), the White House revealed that the President will meet with the Bishop of Rome on March 27, 2014...


And you wonder whether the Unemployment Rate is down to 6.7%?

I think the unemployment rate is rather down to 6.66%, and the signs and wonder are all over the place (for those that have ears to hear and eyes to see)!

Photo (Courtesy) http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2014/jan/21/president-obama-pope-francis-shared-economic-view/

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Arsenio.
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