The Jobs Report Reveals the True American Carnage

Published May 8, 2020

The Washington Post

By Henry Olsen

Friday’s unemployment numbers are horrific enough. A deeper dive into the data, though, shows that it’s even worse than the headline unemployment rate suggests.

At 14.7 percent, the headline rate, which is based on the number of people who are out of work and looking for a job, is already the highest in the history of government unemployment statistics. But millions of people who aren’t working and realize that it’s useless to try to find a job during the pandemic are not counted in that number. Adding these people who are “marginally attached to the labor force” into the equation would produce a much higher rate.

And that’s not all. The 14.7 percent figure — officially, the “U-3” rate — also does not include people who are working only part time for economic reasons. That number soared by more than 5 million people in April. A separate unemployment number, the U-6, includes the marginally attached and those working part time for economic reasons as well as the officially unemployed. That rate is a mind-boggling 22.8 percent.

Click here to read the rest of this piece at the Washington Post’s website.

Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

 

Most Read

1

The GOP’s New Coalition Requires a New Economic Agenda

 Henry Olsen

2

No, there aren’t 15,000 transgender troops in the US military

 Alexander Raikin

3

The New York Times Gets the University of Florida Wrong

 Matthew Malec

4

“Luce,” Mascot of Dumbed-Down Catholicism

 George Weigel
EPPC BRIEFLY
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Sign up to receive EPPC's biweekly e-newsletter of selected publications, news, and events.

Upcoming Event |

Crossroads of Conservatism Debate Series

SEARCH

Your support impacts the debate on critical issues of public policy.

Donate today

Related Publications

McCarthy’s debt plan needs an endgame. Here’s what it could look like.

Henry Olsen

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s budget and debt-limit plan is full of good policies, but it is more of an opening offer for…

Articles

The Washington Post / April 24, 2023

This Arizona town captures America’s deepening rural-urban divide

Henry Olsen

Arizona’s rapid transformation from a Republican bastion to a swing state is largely a story about the divergence between suburban…

Articles

The Washington Post / March 23, 2023

Republicans need a counteroffer to Biden’s Medicare fix

Henry Olsen

Olsen describes the tactics the GOP should use against the Biden Administration as a way to get leverage politically.

Articles

The Washington Post / March 8, 2023

The U.S.-Israeli alliance is getting testy. Don’t expect it to improve.

Henry Olsen

Olsen discusses the tense alliance between the U.S. and Israel. The Biden Administration is clashing with right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Articles

The Washington Post / February 20, 2023