Bruce Bartlett takes the daunting task of explaining unemployment figures today, and, with such a large subject, it's not surprising that he makes a few minor errors in his explanation.
For example, take this passage. "The first, called the household survey, is based on telephone interviews with about 60,000 households per month. This survey is used to calculate the official unemployment rate, which consists of people not working but looking for work as a share of the labor force (those working plus those looking for work). Those not looking for work, such as retirees and stay-at-home mothers, therefore, are not counted as unemployed."
Did you spot the minor mistake Bartlett made? He implied that those not looking for work were only those with benign reasons such as housewives or retirees. But the truth is that there are many who are so discouraged by the job market that they are no longer looking for work. Such people are also not counted in the jobless amount.
Bartlett also seems uninterested in underemployment, such as when a skilled factory worker winds up as a cashier at Wal-mart. Certainly it is better to be working than not working, but you have to take into account the loss of salary and benefits such a move encompasses.
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