Record 95,102,000 Americans Not In Labor Force; Unemployment Rate More Like 30%By Joseph Jankowski The U3 unemployment rate, which is one of 6 ways the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics calculates the amount of people out of work, is defined as the total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force. This is the 4.7% number which came out today and the statistic that soon-to-be former President Barrack Obama has boasted so proudly over. You remember this, right? Obama: I took an economy that was about to go into a Great Depression, and weve now had a little over six years of straight economic job growth, an unemployment rate thats down below 5 percent, and incomes that have gone up and poverty that has gone down. Well, today we found out thata record number of Americans are not in the labor force and are not even looking for a job, the same way it was when Obama first stepped into office. The final jobs report of Obamas presidency revealed that the number of Americans not in the labor force has increased by 14,573,000 (18.09 percent) since January 2009. In December, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record 95,102,000 Americans were not in the labor force, 47,000 more than in November. Hmmm.. They said the unemployment rate was 4.7%! How can that be! The U.S. population is only about 325,340,300 people! As explained above, the official number only calculates the number of unemployed persons as a percent of the civilian labor force. So, lets now take the amount of folks who are not in the labor force and get the percentage of the population that this group accounts for. (Ill use a calculator just so I know Obama never lied to me!) *GASP The reality of the unemployment situation inside the U.S. is much more grim than any politician or bureaucrat would ever want to admit. And just to highlight how bad the situation is, those people counted as not in the labor force qualify to be a part of that statistic because they are no longer looking for work. It is unrevealing statistics like the U3 unemployment rate that allows politicians to grandstand and pose as your leader. Joseph Jankowski is a contributor for PlanetFreeWill.com, where this article first appeared. His works have been published by recognizable alternative news sites like GlobalResearch.ca, selfnewsPost.com, PrisonPlanet.com andZeroHedge.com. FollowPlanet Free Will onTwitter@twitter.com/PlanetFreeWill Subscribe to our newsletter The Information Leak What? Did they lie to us? Tell me its not so. The number of people not in the labor force includes children, elderly, medically unable etc. An out of work five year old is not a relevant statistic. No. Its Adults. However, it does include the elderly and disabled. This statistic has been around for months, Ive always read that it is 95M between 18 and 65 years of age. This article FAILS to mention that as you correctly noticed. An out of work five year old is a relevant statistic to whomever has to feed, clothe, and house him or her. When the overall numbers indicate that, overall, on average in America, one person must provide for the survival of three individuals, numbers like these are very relevant. When young people are encouraged to incur education debt, then graduate and find no jobs available, when working people are advised to save for retirement while being warned that the pensions, 401ks, and SS benefits theyre paying for now wont be there by the time they retire, these overall numbers are very relevant. Thats not news. If you look at numbers you can see, thats is not right. I have comment this problem for years. But nobody, have don anything about it. Glad thats somthing about it. So the 29.23 stat would include children. o-14= 19.4% and 65+=14.4% so old and young is 33.8% So that leaves 215 million people. Just over 1/3 of the entire US population is actually working. The figures quoted in this article are just as meaningless as the dodgy govt stats. As other commenters have noted, its pointless measuring unemployment against the overall population. The meaningful number is found by measuring the rise or decline in workforce participation numbers. Do you have those stats handy? For an article on the topic of govt lies, damn lies and stats to be so misleading itself is utterly disingenuous. Lift you game Joe or boot off. In fact Joe, I just checked those stats and the REAL underlying unemployment rate is actually quite clearly stated as U6, which is currently 9.2%. That sounds pretty spot on to me. Obviously some regions and demographic groups would have a much higher unemployment rate. So youve deliberately ignored the stats provided in order to give a slanted take on government dishonesty. How ironic. Stop working for the fascist corporations. Please Think! I would randomly guess that millions do construction for cash, millions clean houses for cash, millions grow weed for cash, and thousands of other jobs are done for cash- lawn mowing, firewood, window cleaning, farm labor, bar bouncers, bike messengers, barbers, snow plowing, tree work, irrigation, In a sane and fair economic system this would not be necessary, but please note: When you say, Some level of cash work is beneficialto keep [the] pooretc. afloat, alive, out of crime that this is itself considered criminal. Unreported barter and cash are illegal under IRS tax laws, and if audited and caught you can be fined and/or jailed for engaging in this nefarious activity. As for your guesstimate numbers, theyre probably fairly close to reality (closer, anyway, than any bogus official ones). It stands to reason that nearly 30% of those not in the work force arent all living off their copious savings, or eating out of dumpsters and sleeping under bridgesalthough God knows millions in this great and prosperous land are, and have been since before the Bush II era of peace and plenty. The article also fails in that it does not subtract kids and retirees from the 325M population, which I missed in my calc., which further lowers unemployment rates. Still a record 95M able bodied between 16 65 not participating is a new record, albeit with the largest population ever. So statistically %of pop. of able working age non participants would be a more clear figure to compare. Lies, damned lies, and statistics. You certainly got that right, and whatever moving-target statistics our well-fed richly-dressed multi-millionaire lying leaders present us with, you cant feed and clothe your children and parents on statisticseven older folks who PLANNED for their retirement didnt figure on being ripped off for their pensions, 401ks, Blue Chip and fixed income stocks, and all those years of paying into Social Security. They are told there will be no (or negligible) Cost of Living increases, because everything costs the same as it did last yearand the year before! On Mars, perhaps this is true, or whatever planet our selected leaders come from. Just not at our local supermarkets and gas stations, clothing stores and school-supply outlets. Certainly not according to our local tax assessors, doctors, and insurance agents. The cost of living is only the same if you switch from the occasional steak to 80% lean hamburger, from new cars to pre-owned, from air conditioning to swamp coolers, and send your kids to a community college or trade school (if their Common Core education even permits them to make the grade for it). The bottom line is: America needs real jobs commensurate with Americas actual needs on a national level, and those jobs just arent here anymore. Much of the time were now living on processed food out of cans, and we dont even make our own can openers anymore. Were being told Americans just dont want to work in factories, were so fat and happywell, except our kitchen can openers dont work very well and dont last very long before we have to run down to the Great Walmart-of-China for a new onethe one my parents inherited from my grandparents lasted my entire childhoodsame as our toaster, our refrigerator, our washer and dryer. American made stuff, it cost more, lasted decades. Now even if theyre assembled in America, theyre built out of foreign parts, engineered to hold up for 366.5 days (on a 1-year warranty), and THAT is what Made-in-America companies have to compete with (which is why even if you DO buy American, you get crap). The bottom line is, whatever the statistics are twisted to say, Americans cant fend for themselves anymore, on virtually any level definable. 325M pop., 40M retirees, 70M under 18; 325M 70+40 (110) = 215M age 18-65. This cannot end well, maybe I should be a prepper? This is pretty much common knowledge now. 