I did not say they were, I pointed out others have commented on them. If you take exception to the comments, discuss them with the other posters.
That would indicate that whatever is happening today likely began in 2014 with the exception of the blip and continues to today.
That's a fair assessment. So it has been flat roughly the last four years.
My point is based on all the bravado, that number should be trending up instead of being a flat line.
I don't know enough to comment on why they are flatlining. All I know it is better than cratering like they did from 2008 to 2014.
Something additional that I'm seeing is I've represented my employer at job fairs recently. I'm seeing larger numbers of people seeking jobs than before. With unemployment being so low, I'm surprised at the growth in numbers. These are necessarily uneducated or unskilled people.
Are these people recently displaced from a job, or have they been unemployed for more than two years? Anecdotal stories don't paint the entire picture.
I'm also seeing more homeless people begging. And more aggressively. It has really up-ticked in the past 2 years.
I'm not sure where you are, but I have not seen this in my corner of the world. Actually, where I am, I see a lot of high tech companies looking for skilled labor that requires US citizenship. But again, anecdotal stories don't paint the entire picture.
With regard to begging people, my area of the world has a less than 3% unemployment rate. I also recently took a period of extended travel and experienced the same in the places I traveled. Such as St. Louis, OKC, Amarillo, El Paso, Albuquerque and Colorado Springs. I don't have a good feel for their employment pictures, but beggars seemed to be on many corners.