I started a spread sheet (yes, I'm a geek), using BLS numbers(NOT seasonally adjusted, which is just another trick to make the numbers look better.
Here are the facts. In Jan 12, the civilian "population" was 242,269,000, an increase of 1,685,000 over December.
The civilian work force was 153,485,000, an increase of 112,000. This DROPPED the labor force rate from 63.8% to 63.4%.
The number of people employed DROPPED by 737,000 to 139,994,000.
The number of unemployed INCREASED by 849,000 to 13,541,000. The unemployment rate therefore INCREASE from 8.3% to 8.8%.
In January '09, when Obozo was sworn in, the labor force participation rate was 65.4% (today only 63.4%). With the increase in population, if the participation rate was still 65.4% today, the real unemployment would be 11.7%
Those are the real harsh facts! Don't buy into the lies!
Go to the website and look at the data yourself: http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm