Posted on 06/03/2016 6:44:58 AM PDT by xzins
A record 94,708,000 Americans were not in the labor force in May -- 664,000 more than in April -- and the labor force participation rate dropped two-tenths of a point to 62.6 percent, near its 38-year low, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday.
When President Obama took office in January 2009, 80,529,000 Americans were not participating in the labor force; since then, 14,179,000 Americans have left the workforce -- some of them retiring and some just quitting because they can't find work.
"By almost every economic measure, America is better off than when I came here at the beginning of my presidency," President Obama told the people of Elkhart, Indiana three days ago. "We cut unemployment in half, years before a lot of economists thought we would."
The unemployment rate in May dropped to 4.7 percent, BLS reported, less than half of its Obama-era high of 10 percent in October 2009.
But the labor force participation rate has deteriorated over Obama's two terms.
When Obama took office in January 2009, shortly before the recession hit, the labor force participation rate was 65.7 percent. The following month, it reached an Obama-era high of 65.8 percent, and then it began its seven-year downward spiral, hitting 62.4 percent in September 2015, its lowest point since 1977.
The 62.6 percent participation rate in May 2015 compares with 62.8 in April and 63.0 in March. (BLS noted that the rate has declined by 0.4 percentage point over the past two months, offsetting gains in the first quarter.)
In May, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 253,174,000. Of those, 158,466,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.
The 158,466,000 who participated in the labor force equaled 62.6 percent of the 253,174,000 civilian noninstitutional population.
BLS points to retirements among the aging baby boom generation as a key factor affecting the labor force participation rate. But the weak job market has caused other Americans to give up job-hunting in favor of staying home or going back to school.
BLS said the economy added a disappointing 38,000 jobs in May, well below analysts' estimates of 158,000. Over the past three months, job gains have averaged 116,000 per month.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 5,923,000 people in May as "persons who currently want a job," up 130,000 from 5,793,000 in April.
This reality puts the lie to the official U3 unemployment rate.
Yeah kind of says it all...
Only +38,000 jobs in May...
Lowest in 6 years...
Private sector puny +25,000...
And we’ll find out come November if this Nation wants to Make America Great AGAIN or continue down this dead end road!
There is very little economic news from the gubbermet these days that isn’t fabrication, BS and outright lies.
Why would anyone vote in favor of this putrid leadership?
I think the Bureau of Labor Statistics needs to remove “Labor” from the acronym.
The obvious truth of these new numbers, and we have known it for years, is that Obama is a HUGE failure
Maybe replace it with the words “true but fake”
U-3 has always been bogus...U-6 is closer to the true percentage...
BLS = White collar welfare.
We are at 1951 of the baby-boom generation retiring. We have 10 more years of millions of people retiring and not looking for work every single year.
Another Obama-era foot print.
How exactly is the government’s unemployment number computed? Upon what is it based? If it is the number of people collecting unemployment insurance benefits, that is ridiculous for many reasons.
But unlike our European cousins Americans, and baby boomers, have kept their birth rate above 2.1.
It all depends on perspective. If you look at it from the perspective that he want's to destroy and "fundamentally change" America, he is a smashing success.
Hey Gwen Ifil...what gives?
Is this 94 Million working age (16-65) Americans not working or 94 Million all age (0-100) Americans not working?
Have them pick cotton the old fashioned way for 40 hours a week. They will be too tired to riot.
10% tax rate for EVERYBODY. Put it in a pool and decide what a minimum income for the 40 hour folks. Corporate taxes pay for defense and constitutional requirements only.
Can’t wait to see the unemployment rate drop to near 0% at the same time the largest amount of Americans are unemployed. How will zero explain that? Just askin.e
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