AEI on the Phony 8.3 Percent Unemployment Rate

If you're worried about jobs, don't miss American Enterprise Institute's Why the Official 8.3 Percent Unemployment Rate is a Phony Number. Author James Pethokoukis points out:

• If the US labor force was equal in percentage to when Obama took office, the real unemployment rate would be 11 percent.
• If all unemployment—including the discouraged (i.e., those who've quit looking) as well as the part-time employed who want full-time work—the unemployment rate would be "a sky-high 15.1 percent."
• "Bottom line: The unemployment rate is dropping because economic growth continues to be so anemic that 4 million Americans have quit looking for work and have been disappeared by the Labor Department."

Pethokoukis explains (with graphics) why a further decline in the "official" unemployment rate over the next few months is not likely to be good news for Americans or Mr. Obama.