A Deeper Look at the April Unemployment Numbers.

The April job numbers are out and everyone is extremely excited that unemployment is down to 7.5%; nonfarm payrolls rose 165,000, and the addition of 293,000 jobs.  (1)  However, numbers can be deceiving and we must dig deeper to find the true story. 

According to Binyamin Appelbaum writing for The New York Times Business Day, the growth in jobs is “in proportion to population growth.  Nothing less, nothing more.”  (2)  In other words, we are not creating jobs for those that lost their jobs due to the economic downturn and are only keeping up with the growth in the population.  The truth is that these jobs are going to more experienced unemployed workers and not recent college graduates who continue to suffer unacceptably high unemployment. (3)

However, the most alarming trend is that our workforce is becoming a part-time workforce.  Of the 293,000 jobs added in April, 278,000 were part-time jobs.  This means that only 15,000 full-time jobs were added in April or 300 jobs per state. (1)  People who were working full-time prior to the economic downturn now have exhausted their unemployment benefits and are settling for part-time employment  I’m sure those who now have had to settle for part-time employment hardly feel like the economy is booming. 

As additional proof that our economy is not booming we must look at the U6 unemployment number.  As a bit of review, I discussed in one of my previous posts that there are six ways that the government counts unemployment.  The number that is widely published is the U3 number, which only counts those on unemployment who are actively looking for work.  It does not consider the 9.5 million people that have left the workforce during the Obama administration. (4)  The U3 number also does not consider those who have settled for part-time employment or jobs paying less than the jobs they lost. (5)

A more accurate number is the U6 number, which also considers those that have dropped out of the workforce and those underemployed or who have settled for part-time employment. (5)  The U6 number for April actually rose from 13.8% to 13.9 percent. (1)  Once again, this is hardly a sign of a booming economic recovery. 

It appears that the Obama administration and the mainstream media are looking for any signs of life in an administration having difficulty getting its agenda passed through Congress.  The administration is also facing a Congressional probe of its handling of the Benghazi attacks and must confront increased tensions in the Middle East. 

Our nation needs economic policies that will stimulate the free market.  This includes a full repeal of Obamacare for that is the main policy that is promoting part-time employment.  We also need to cut taxes on business to encourage innovation and expansion that will create good paying full-time jobs for individuals.  We also need to begin drilling our own domestic oil and lessen our dependence on foreign oil especially oil coming from the Middle East. 

America has always been a nation of hard working people but, unfortunately, many of our hard working people are currently on the sidelines instead of being participants in the game.  We owe these hard working, innovative, and intelligent people an economy in which they can thrive by unleashing the powerful free market. 

1. Pethokoukis, James. Part-time Nation: Was the April jobs report really the Obamacare jobs report? www.aei-ideas.org. [Online] AEIdeas Freedom, Opportunity, Enterprise, May 6, 2013. [Cited: May 6, 2013.] http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/05/was-the-april-jobs-report-really-the-obamacare-jobs-report/.

2. Appelbaum, Binyamin. Keeping Up, Not Getting Ahead. economics.blogs.nytimes.com. [Online] The New York Times, May 3, 2013. [Cited: May 6, 2013.] http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/keeping-up-not-getting-ahead/?hp.

3. Moobin, Akbar. Unemployment Among Recent Graduates Unacceptably High, But College Remains Good Investment. campusprogress.org. [Online] Campus Progress, May 3, 2013. [Cited: May 6, 2013.] http://campusprogress.org/articles/unemployment_among_recent_graduates_unacceptably_high_but_college_remains_g/.

4. Harrington, Elizabeth. 9.5 Million People Have Left the Workforce Under Obama. cnsnews.com. [Online] cnsnews, May 3, 2013. [Cited: May 6, 2013.] http://m.cnsnews.com/news/article/95-million-people-have-left-workforce-under-obama.

5. The Heathen Republican. heathenrepublican.blogspot.com. The Heathen Republican. [Online] April 6, 2012. [Cited: May 6, 2013.] http://heathenrepublican.blogspot.com/2012/04/q1-2012-unemployment-data-released-u1.html?m=1.