For Every Person Added to Labor Force, 10 Added to Those Not in Labor Force [since January 2009]

Weekkly Standard ^ | October 15, 2012 | DANIEL HALPER

[grundle]

A new chart from the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee details the fact that, since January 2009, for every person added to the labor force, 10 have been added to those not in the labor force. Here's a chart showing the dwindling labor force:

"For Every 1 Person Added To Labor Force Since January 2009," the chart reads, "10 People Added To Those Not In Labor Force."

That is, in nearly the four years, since President Obama took office in January 2009, only 827,000 people have been added to the labor force, while during that same time period, 8,208,000 have been added to those not in the labor force.

The chart relies on data available from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"The numbers represented in the chart are a measure of growth from January 2009 through September 2012," the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee explains. "The data is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Current Population Survey, a sample of 60,000 households conducted by personal and telephone interviews. Basic labor force data are gathered monthly. The labor force consists of all people aged 16 and over either employed or actively seeking work. It does not include discouraged workers, people who have retired, or those on welfare or disability who are no longer looking for work. The 'not in the labor force' group is defined as the total civilian non-institutional population minus the labor force."

And the minority side of the Senate Budget Committee concludes, "These figures reveal several troubling trends: That the jobs market is not keeping pace with U.S. population growth; that not enough younger Americans are joining the labor force to account for retirement among an ageing population; and that a large number of workers have become so discouraged that they simply stopped looking for work and left the labor force entirely. These factors pose serious fiscal challenges for the United States. A historically low labor force participation rate—together with an ageing population and a record number of people drawing federal welfare benefits—puts severe strain on the federal budget in both the near and long term."

UPDATE: Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee, comments: “The essential point of this chart is not simply how many people are employed or unemployed, but to illustrate that more and more people are simply not part of the U.S. labor force. This confirms that we are on the wrong track. It is unsustainable to have such a large and growing number of people who are not part of the productive economy. This is not a political argument, but a description of the underlying instability in our economy that has so many Americans worried about the future. The question is what can we do to reverse these trends and start moving in the right direction.”

[CedarDave]

Beat me to it! Listening to Mark Levin covering during his first half hour.

[marron]

Thats how you go through an economic depression with only 8% unemployment. You just keep subtracting people from the work force. Do it until the books are balanced.

[ChildOfThe60s]

bump for sending to liberals in la la land

[faithhopecharity]

Thanks for posting this!

Please everybody get data like this CIRCULATED to EVERYBODY (voting has already begun in some states and there are so many lies coming out of the Re-election campaign crowd...Michelle O. says we are in a Great Recovery, even!!! Please help get real information to ALL voters right away. Some people with jobs may not know (yet) how bad the economy is getting ...)

Thanks

[BilLies]

“You just keep subtracting people from the work force..”

Ah! the "old send them to the Gulag location or the welfare line" trick.. I must do some fact collection..exactly which side of the ledger(new employed/unemployed:not looking) did Obama’s aunt and uncle fall into?

[Sergio]

bkmk