Real US unemployment rate at 16 pct: Fed official Aug 26 02:25 PM US/Eastern

The real US unemployment rate is 16 percent if persons who have dropped out of the labor pool and those working less than they would like are counted, a Federal Reserve official said Wednesday. "If one considers the people who would like a job but have stopped looking -- so-called discouraged workers -- and those who are working fewer hours than they want, the unemployment rate would move from the official 9.4 percent to 16 percent, said Atlanta Fed chief Dennis Lockhart.

He underscored that he was expressing his own views, which did "do not necessarily reflect those of my colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee," the policy-setting body of the central bank.

Lockhart pointed out in a speech to a chamber of commerce in Chattanooga, Tennessee that those two categories of people are not taken into account in the Labor Department's monthly report on the unemployment rate. The official July jobless rate was 9.4 percent.

Lockhart, who heads the Atlanta, Georgia, division of the Fed, is the first central bank official to acknowledge the depth of unemployment amid the worst US recession since the Great Depression.

Lockhart said the US economy was improving but "still fragile," and the beginning stages of a sluggish recovery were underway.

"My forecast for a slow recovery implies a protracted period of high unemployment," he said, adding that it would be difficult to stimulate jobs through additional public spending.

"Further fiscal stimulus has been mentioned, but the full effects of the first stimulus package are not yet clear, and the concern over adding to the federal deficit and the resulting national debt is warranted," he said.

President Barack Obama's administration has resisted calls for more public spending, arguing that the 787-billion-dollar stimulus passed in February needs time to work its way through the economy.

Lockhart noted that construction and manufacturing had been particularly hard hit in the recession that began in December 2007 and predicted some jobs were gone for good.

Prior to the recession, he said, construction and manufacturing combined accounted for slightly more than 15 percent of employment. But during the recession, their job losses made up more than 40 percent of all US job losses.

"In my view, it is unlikely that we will see a return of jobs lost in certain sectors, such as manufacturing," he said.

"In a similar vein, the recession has been so deep in construction that a reallocation of workers is likely to happen -- even if not permanent."

Payroll employment has fallen by 6.7 million since the recession began.

We already have double digit unemployment.







http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CN...;show_article=1

Unemployment is well over 10% in many states. California is over 11% and Rhode Island is over 12%.

The Chelsea Bucketheads are predicting this trend to continue for at least another year.

When Bushie was King of the Universe, the whacked-out, left-wing nuts used to go farking apeshit that the unemployment rate was really around 8% instead of the 6% reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Now? Not a farking peep and it's way the fark over double digits.

Bad news no longer sells.

explains Dancing w Stars low ratings with Delay

explains Dancing w Stars low ratings with Delay

you know dems like a book

it was their worst rated show since they started

It's been well into the double digits for years.

Yeah, it's funny how each side discovers that just when the other is in power.

Homey don't play that. As long as it's consistent for comparison sake I'm ok with it as is.

It's been well into the double digits for years.

It's been well into the double digits for years.

Yeah, it's funny how each side discovers that just when the other is in power.

Hey man. What up?

I moved. I live in Santa Rosa now. Still not working. Bicycling a lot. I need to put a rear tire on my motorcycle and do a valve check/adj. then I'll be riding that a bunch more. This area is surrounded by fantastic roads. The North Bay reminds me of the South Bay of 25-30 years ago, which is where I spent my childhood. I'm loving it.

I'm trying to get on with Siemens otherwise I'm just creeping up the out of work list.

I was elected as an alternate delegate in both the Northern California Carpenter Regional Council as well as the Carpenters 46 Northern Counties Conference Board. Both for 3 year terms.

What's up with you?

Both unemployment measurements regularly quoted not that accurate so the folks putting out the number can basically make it whatever they want. There may be some desire to keep it below 10% until after the early November elections...

We already have double digit unemployment.







http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CN...;show_article=1

There is that.

In which case maybe it's time to unleash the power of the economy and get some hiring going. And not just temporary stimulus hiring.

Mr. Mom. The 16 year old daughter of my girlfriend now lives with us. Talk about a life change.

they could do repo work and evictions

make "going out of business" signs

Or the gov could quit driving private enterprise under.

In which case maybe it's time to unleash the power of the economy and get some hiring going. And not just temporary stimulus hiring.