The Real U.S. Unemployment Rate Is 49%

The Real U.S. Unemployment Rate Is 49%

By Gregory Patin
Madison Independent Examiner
Saturday, January 31, 2015

The U.S. government officially admits that 8.3 percent of the labor
force is “visibly” unemployed.

The government’s most widely publicized unemployment rate takes
into account only those who are collecting unemployment benefits
and actively looking for work.

It does not take into account those whose unemployment benefits
have run out, those who have given up seeking work, or those who
are underemployed desiring full time work, but forced to work part
time.

Last year, 86 million Americans were not counted in the labor
force because they didn't keep up a regular job search and these
86 million Americans are the "invisible" unemployed.

The total US population is approximately 330 million.

24 percent of those, however, are young people not eligible to
work and 13 percent are retired.

So the total population of available workers in the United States
is 100% – (24% + 13%) = 63% of 330 million people, or 208 million workers.

Out of the pool of available workers, therefore, 8.3 percent
accounts for about 17.3 million people.

Together with the 86 million “invisible” that means 103.3 million
Americans are available to work but do not have a full time job.

And with 103.3 million workers not working or underemployed, the
true jobless rate in the U.S. right now is closer to 49 percent, not
the 8.3 percent the U.S. government and media is continually
propagandizing about.

That calculation is consistent with a recent survey of income and
program participation conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau that
shows that well over 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least
one welfare program run by the federal government.

And that figure does not even include social security and medicare.

The implications for the U.S. economy should be obvious.

Government benefits for the unemployed merely provide enough
for families to get by and cover basic living expenses, they leave no
room for the type of discretionary spending that keeps businesses
thriving in America.

The amount of citizens out of work, not contributing revenue
and receiving benefits, combined with billions in defense and
war spending, bank bailouts, tax breaks for huge corporations
that outsource jobs, etc., is simply unsustainable.

Gregory Patin earned a B.A. in political science from U.W. Madison
and a M.S. in management from Colorado Technical University and
he is currently a free lance writer residing in Madison, WI who
considers himself politically independent.

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-real-unemployment-rate-
the-u-s