Something you never hear about is how the labor force participation rate remained at what is a 36-year low of 62.8 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). As I have mentioned before, the participation rate is the percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population who participated in the labor force by either having a job during the month or actively looking for one. And as it has also been pointed out before, that number matches the lowest percentage since March 1978 when, as you may recall, it was Jimmy Carter who occupied the Oval Office.
In November, according to BLS, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population stood at 248,844,000. Of those, 156,397,000 Americans participated in the labor force by either holding a job or by actively looking for one. Those 156,397,000 who participated in the labor force made up 62.8 percent of the 248,844,000 civilian noninsttutional population, which matches the 62.8 percent rate in April, May, June, August and October of 2014 as well as the participation rate in March of 1978. The participation rate hit its lowest level of 62.7 percent in September 2014.
The other 92,447,000 people did not participate in the labor force, which means they did not have a job and were not actively trying to find one. When Barry "Almighty" first took office on that fateful day back in January 2009, there were 80,529,000 Americans who were not participating in the labor force, which means that since that day, nearly 12 Million, or 11,918,000, Americans have left the workforce. Of the 156,397,000 who did participate in the labor force, 147,287,000 had a job, and 9,110,000 did not have a job but were actively seeking one, making them the nation’s unemployed.
The 9,110,000 job seekers were 5.8 percent of the 156,397,000 Americans actively participating in the labor force during the month of November. Thus, the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, the same as it was in October. And yet we’re supposed to ignore completely the government math involved in Friday’s turbocharged jobs headline. Numbers that came thanks primarily to seasonal adjustments and the rather shady math techniques employed there at the BLS. We’re supposed to believe that U.S. job growth managed to hit 321,000 even as the unemployment rate held steady at 5.8 percent.
These numbers, are, of course, not much more than a work of pure fiction. And the intent here is to present them in such a way, and with the hope, as generate, within the American people, if not a sense of unbridled optimism then at least a perception that the job market continues to mend and is on a pretty steady trajectory higher. It’s really all just smoke and mirrors, the specific purpose of which is to create the perception of a sound economy, where none exists. However, the household survey, which is an actual head count, makes clear that these numbers don’t paint a very accurate picture.
Here are a few figures to consider: That big headline number of 321,000 translated into just 4,000 more working Americans. There were, at the same time, another 115,000 on the unemployment line. That disparity can be explained through an expanding labor force, which grew 119,000, though the participation rate among that group remained at 62.8 percent, which is just off the year's worst level and around a 36-year low. But wait, there's more: The jobs that were created skewed heavily toward lower quality. Full-time jobs declined by 150,000, while part-time positions increased by 77,000.
And yet there were still other points not to like in this report. For instance: There were 110,000 fewer married men at work, while married women saw their ranks shrink by 59,000. So as you can pretty plainly see, the more you take the time to look beyond what it is that you’re being told, the more you find out how everything you’re being told is a lie. The numbers have now been manipulated to the point where they have become totally useless, except, perhaps, as a way for Barry, and is many minions in the state-controlled media, to convince the American people the economy is getting stronger.
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