Are unemployment rates really going down?

NO! Around here, they are going UP! I see it with my own eyes!

Jobless_in_Ma wrote:http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/03/02/are-unemployment-rates-really-going-down/?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl13|sec1_lnk3|204288

Donald Trump was on Letterman tonight and said unemployment is 21% plus he said America is no longer a leader in the world (like anyone with half a brain couldn't figure that one out!!). He said it's a shame that this is happening while in the meantime he's rolling around in his billions.

So, in my opinion most everything the government is telling us is a lie or it's so distorted and jumbled you don't know what parts to believe or not believe. Can't trust anyone in our government to tell us the straight truth and the sad part is none of them have any answers to this national tragedy.

Unemployment rates are calculated differently than they have been in the past for political purposes. Once an individual exhausts all available benefits, he/she is no longer considered unemployed!! Also, these statistics do not consider the people who weren't eligible for benefits in the first place nor do they have any way of telling how many people are underemployed, i.e., either unable to obtain full time and/or overqualified but working to keep a roof over their head. In addition, many independent contractors are not eligible for the program. Apparently, they do polling to figure out other labor statistics - anyone here ever been polled? I've never been and I doubt any of us have - we've become dust in the wind. It doesn't look good for the U.S. to report unemployment realistically.

sbraney wrote:Unemployment rates are calculated differently than they have been in the past for political purposes. Once an individual exhausts all available benefits, he/she is no longer considered unemployed!! Also, these statistics do not consider the people who weren't eligible for benefits in the first place nor do they have any way of telling how many people are underemployed, i.e., either unable to obtain full time and/or overqualified but working to keep a roof over their head. In addition, many independent contractors are not eligible for the program. Apparently, they do polling to figure out other labor statistics - anyone here ever been polled? I've never been and I doubt any of us have - we've become dust in the wind. It doesn't look good for the U.S. to report unemployment realistically.

Although you bring up some good points,as far as manipulation of the numbers maybe justified, it has been done this way for a long time or maybe to state it clearer it was not this administration that came up with the way unemployment was calculated that has been in place for some time.So in closing the Gov. has been in the manipulation buisness for a long time.

Although you bring up some good points, as far as manipulation of the numbers may be justified, it has been done this way for a long time ... the Gov. has been in the manipulation business for a long time.

I agree with you - don't know when it got started, but do know that it was used in the last administration as well - I'm sure Clinton tried to make his administration look good too. The three Harvard geniuses that have been responsible for so much corruption and turmoil (Greenspan, Rubin & Summers) were instrumental in formulating his economic agenda. They're all such a bunch of corrupt gangsters it is beyond belief. It's also interesting that recent administrations also spend billions on marketing firms to spew their filth or as they say, spin their snake oil. Take a gander at this: http://www.shadowstats.com/