Analysis: Jobs matter, unemployment rate doesn't

Analysis: Jobs matter, unemployment rate doesn't – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs:
"Ignore the unemployment rate, and ignore anything you read that highlights the fact that it increased from 8.8% in March to 9% in April. It doesn't matter. It's an irrelevant number. There are so many long-term unemployed in this country, that the unemployment rate would actually be much higher if all of them were counted– more like 16% or 17%."

Hear, hear! Finally an article that makes some sense and has at least a modicum of reality.

The number juggling that comes out of Washington is really useless. The fact of the matter is - there are not enough GOOD jobs out there! Yes, "x" hundreds of thousands of jobs were added, but the figures dodge the issue of WHAT jobs were created. Engineering jobs that pay $50K vs janitorial jobs that pay $25K - big difference.

December 2010 jobs report: Payrolls up, unemployment rates falls

December jobs report: Payrolls up, unemployment rates falls - Jan. 7, 2011:
"NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- High hopes for December's employment numbers were dashed Friday, when the Labor Department reported disappointing job gains for the month. But the unemployment rate took a surprising dive.

The economy added 103,000 jobs in December -- falling short of most expectations. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate sunk to 9.4%, its lowest level since May 2009, confusing some economists. While a sharply lower unemployment rate was a welcome surprise, some experts said that drop was mostly due to a shrinking workforce."

and

"About 260,000 adults dropped out of the labor force for various reasons, and were no longer counted as unemployed by the government. The overall participation rate in the U.S. labor force fell to a new recession low of 64.3%. "Incredibly, the U.S. labor force is now smaller than it was before the recession started, though it should have grown by over 4 million workers to keep up with working-age population growth over this period," said economist Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Institute."

The news just gets worse and worse. As small businesses collapse, with literally hundreds shutting down daily, the job market is rapidly shrinking. The last 2 years have taken a toll on the backbone of our economy, the small business, with the Federal, State and City Governments taxing or regulating most out of business in such a short time.

With a new Congress seated in D.C. to greet a New Year, one can only hope this new batch has a better understanding of what is wrong with our economy, and that taxing businesses out of business results in collection of NO tax once they shut down.

Companies hire at slow pace for 3rd straight month

"The Associated Press: Companies hire at slow pace for 3rd straight month:
Companies showed a lack of confidence about hiring for a third straight month in July, making it likely the economy will grow more slowly the rest of the year. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.5 percent.
Private employers added a net total of only 71,000 jobs in July, far below the 200,000 or more jobs needed each month to reduce the unemployment rate.
The modest gains were even weaker when considering a loss of government jobs at the local, state and federal levels in July that weren't temporary census positions. Factoring those in, the net gains were only 12,000 jobs, according to the Labor Department's July report Friday."

Month after month, the Labor Dept. takes us on this rollercoaster of 'jobs' 'no jobs'. The good news, the unemployment rate did not go up. The bad news, the unemployment rate did not go down. Now even the Government seems to be getting in on the action of "losing jobs", granted that most States are nearly bankrupt, but its still an atrocious bit of news. What kind of an example is Uncle Sam setting by laying off its own employees? Jobs = taxes; NO jobs = NO taxes; a simple enough formula that no one in DC seems to have a grasp on.