10. Real Unemployment: One Out of Five in US

The corporate media wants America to feel secure during a time of unemployment crisis, but people deserve to know what is really happening rather than being told a statistical lie. The January 2011 unemployment rate released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated that the unemployment rate had dropped to 9% from 9.4%, conveying an illusion that our economy is recovering. This decrease in the unemployment rate is partly explained by a “seasonal adjustment.” Although many people find temporary jobs during the holidays each year so are no longer counted in the unemployment numbers, they have no job security with seasonal employment. Also, once a person has been unemployed for a year, the government stops counting them in the statisticseven though they remain unemployed.

According to Shadowstats.com, the real unemployment rate in January 2011 was 22.2%, which is more than double than what corporate media claims. It seems that the government is keeping people in the dark about the real unemployment rate to make people believe that our economy is improving, so that the government is praised for its success in lowering unemployment.

Source:

“9% Unemployment Rate is a Statistical Lie,” Greg Hunter, USAWatchdog, February 7, 2011. http://usawatchdog.com/9-unemployment-rate-is-a-statistical-lie/

Student Researcher: Ashley Wood, Sonoma State University

Faculty Evaluator: Peter Phillips, Sonoma State University

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Whiskey

alright. i like this website, but this post isn’t accurate. Unemployment is an economic term for people seeking employment, but unable to get it. It does not include a variety of factors, because those would dilute the true statistic. Would you count old people and students in unemployment statistics for instance? These adjustments make the statistic (which is just a survey poll of random households) a more useful stat.
Do you really think 1 in 5 is unemployed willingly?
Whiskey

alright. i like this website, but this post isn’t accurate. Unemployment is an economic term for people seeking employment, but unable to get it. It does not include a variety of factors, because those would dilute the true statistic. Would you count old people and students in unemployment statistics for instance? These adjustments make the statistic (which is just a survey poll of random households) a more useful stat.
Do you really think 1 in 5 is unemployed willingly?
Liberty Fighter

0bama’s legacy.
http://www.facebook.com/robert.m.enders Robert Enders

Whiskey, the 9.1% that you hear on CNN is calculated by the number of people collecting unemployment benefits. But there are many people who are unemployed who are ineligible for benefits. The 20% statistic includes everyone who wants to work, isn’t retired or going to school fulltime, but still cannot find a job.
Whiskey

yes i understand that, but the other articles on this site display facts that the media overlooks or that are shrouded in misunderstanding. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics explains clearly how they calculate their statistic. It’s done to avoid overstating factors that contribute to unemployment and it is not perfect but no one says it is. ANY MACRO CLASS you take EVER spends a good week talking about how unemployment statistics are calculated and the benefits and drawbacks of this method. There is no censorship here
http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Montgomery/100001864875331 John Montgomery

Its a lie and they are aware it is, they changed a law in 1994 that made 5million turn into 500,000 and Clinton looked great.
If they use the same method as in the great depression shawdowstats is the true rate! They also lie about inflation and some other numbers, all changed before the current President took office, they have been hiding the bad for about 30 years with these changes, They now can no longer hide it.
Fyrehed

How convenient not to include those who’ve been unemployed for over a year… I had a feeling I wasn’t being counted.
Donnalee

What exactly do you mean by willingly? If you mean those of us who can’t stand all day at a minimum wage job, since we are older, but not elderly, then yeah, I was willingly unemployed!
I finally got a good job making $11/hour after being unemployed full time since 2002. I was able to find part-time stuff, none of which gave me unemployment money. I had just run out of savings and IRA account money, then got myself a desk job that I could finally do, and have it put me as an upper class poor person. I will still not be middle class, but I got the job before I had to sell the house.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Roger-Williams/667926803 Roger Williams

You are right, but I believe that what the article is trying to convey is that often times those very facts that are crucial to the TRUE understanding of the statistics are, in fact, over looked or are not deeply analyzed, thus most mainstream media outlets put forth the half-truths as facts, and then the unsuspecting citizen consumes this information as the full gospel. There in lies the problem.
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Jhart28

Not necessarily Obama’s fault. It’s the fault of many, over the years, from all branches of government on to the media and least of all the common folk who merely work the system. There are plenty of good people out there, but the system is FUBAR.
Anonymous

4.0 Answer. When the media essentially works for politicians and big businesses, the people lose.
Anonymous

Yeah define willingly. My dad was out of work for awhile because his place of business, Western Union, closed their entire building down and outsourced it all to India. Took him many months to find a job, he eventually found a job making like $11 an hour, not even full-time, and he slowly loses money every year.
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Adrianriviera

The media report what they are told by “the government” with little analysis, but it is the government/legislature giving out misleading information. Every congressman must know what is happening in their states but say nothing it seems. If the representatives of the people were more vocal, maybe the misleading info would decline. The problem is that they are virtualy all part of the system.
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MUDA FUCKA JONES

BULL SAID WHISTEY DOE CTFU!
Thomas K. Willam

Alright, “MUDA FUCKA JONES” you just sound illiterate.