Quote:
Originally posted by ASUADPi
Rudey, if your making fun of me, that's okay  . If you're being serious, I really don't understand the economy so very much. I tried an economics class and I was totally lost. LOL. I can just read and add statistics.
|
The easiest way to start here is to understand the statistics - 6-some million sounds like a lot, but it's not - it's 2% of the US population, and 5.1% of the employable population (non-child, non-retired).
Now, saying that just over 1 in 20 Americans is unemployed sounds kind of like a lot, too - but again, it's not. Unemployment has to be viewed through the lens of 'transient' workers - workers who are between jobs or simply do not desire employment. Generally, around 4% is considered the baseline for this (IIRC; Rudey can prob correct this figure if wrong) - that means the effective 'zero unemployment' is equivalent to 4% (total) unemployment. In that light, 5.1% is not a very high number.
In fact, it's also LOWER than last year, according to the BLS - last January, unemployment was at 5.7%.
Thus, I would posit that the statistics actually show improvement, a positive sign for the economy (and subtley, the reverse of your point).