| ??? 03/31/07 03:02 Read: times |
#136246 - Real unemployment Responding to: ???'s previous message |
Steve M. Taylor said:
The unemployment rate in the US is around 4.5% The reported unemployment rate may be 4.5% but the actual unemployment rate is greater. During the Great Depression the reported unemployment rate was the actual rate: the percentage of people out of work who wanted jobs. Today the reported unemployment rate is the percentage of people collecting unemployment insurance. It does not count those looking for work whose unemployment benefits have run out or never existed. My completely unscientific, parochial, based on info I'm personally aware of, estimate is that the actual unemployment rate tends to be about three times higher than the reported rate. The US economy's dog-eat-dog system doesn't seem to offer any great advantages over the European social system at the moment. We all enjoy the fruits of capitalism, but with some buffering. That buffering including such things as anti-trust laws, prohibition of abusive monopolies, etc, that are sadly lacking or ineffectual in the US today. |
