Hidden Unemployment

numbers, more dramatic solutions are needed. In the wake of the 1929 crash, the
economy gradually recovered after a series of policies was adopted.
These include the reduction of working hours to employ more people at the expense of
efficiency. Meanwhile, social protections were gained through generous welfare
programs while banks and the financial system were slapped with restrictions to better
manage risk. Overly free-market solutions in post-World War I Germany led to the
socioeconomic disaster of Nazism.
Then there’s the issue of robotization. Technology is simply going to wipe out many jobs
in the next decade. Whole sectors will be made redundant. At that point, even the
official U.S. unemployment rate could match the real unemployment rate of 28–30%
that Trump and Mnuchin mentioned.
At these current levels, unemployment can hardly go lower, because everything is
based on the index of investor confidence. And to invest, you must trust the future.
Sooner, rather than later, the markets will face reality.
________
August 28, 2015
The Real Unemployment Numbers and Why I’m Not Counted
As a Daily Work job seeker, I was pleased to hear that unemployment rate in the state
of Minnesota is one of the lowest in the nation. I wondered if this means that everyone
who lost their jobs is now returning to work and there is a happy ending to this story.
Sadly, I know so many people who are still really struggling. So, I did my research and I
wasn’t surprised to learn that there are a number of factors that do not reflect the real
number of unemployed people in Minnesota and elsewhere.
The Truth about the Unemployment Rate
According to Jim Clifton, chairman and CEO at Gallup, the Bureau of Labor Statistics
unemployment rate is a “big lie.” Here’s why:
Anyone who has given up their job search or who hasn’t looked for work for at
least four weeks is not included in the Department of Labor’s unemployment
statistics
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