Abbot and Costello on Unemployment

[up148]

COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America.



ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It's 5.6%.



COSTELLO: That many people are out of work?



ABBOTT: No, that's 23%.



COSTELLO: You just said 5.6%.



ABBOTT: 5.6% Unemployed.



COSTELLO: Right 5.6% out of work.



ABBOTT: No, that's 23%.



COSTELLO: Okay, so it's 23% unemployed.



ABBOTT: No, that's 5.6%.



COSTELLO: WAIT A MINUTE. Is it 5.6% or 23%?



ABBOTT: 5.6% are unemployed. 23% are out of work.



COSTELLO: If you are out of work you are unemployed.



ABBOTT: No, Biden said you can't count the "Out of Work" as the unemployed. You have to look for work to be unemployed.



COSTELLO: BUT THEY ARE OUT OF WORK!!!



ABBOTT: No, you miss his point.



COSTELLO: What point?



ABBOTT: Someone who doesn't look for work can't be counted with those who look for work. It wouldn't be fair.



COSTELLO: To whom?



ABBOTT: The unemployed.



COSTELLO: But ALL of them are out of work.



ABBOTT: No, the unemployed are actively looking for work. Those who are out of work gave up looking and if you give up, you are no longer in the ranks of the unemployed.



COSTELLO: So if you're off the unemployment roles that would count as less unemployment?



ABBOTT: Unemployment would go down. Absolutely!



COSTELLO: The unemployment just goes down because you don't look for work?



ABBOTT: Absolutely it goes down. That's how it gets to 5.6%. Otherwise, it would be 23%.



COSTELLO: Wait, I got a question for you. That means there are two ways to bring down the unemployment number.



ABBOTT: Two ways is correct.



COSTELLO: Unemployment can go down if someone gets a job?



ABBOTT: Correct.



COSTELLO: And unemployment can also go down if you stop looking for a job?



ABBOTT: Bingo.



COSTELLO: So there are two ways to bring unemployment down, and the easier of the two is to have people stop looking for work.



ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like a Democrat.



COSTELLO: I don't even know what the hell I just said!



ABBOTT: Now you're thinking like Biden.

[HONDO74]

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Hilarious, except the unemployment rate is 3.7%.....probably the lowest in over 20 years; probably longer than that yet.

Terrible times indeed.

[up148]

That's not exactly right either.

https://www.minneapolisfed.org/article/ ... the-basics

[Rufus T. Firefly]

That's not exactly right either.

Was when I looked it up - right now (as of yesterday) we've got record employment and record participation numbers both which is running completely counter to a recession. Of course if you had put you life savings in FTX, then you might think otherwise.

[robert.]

What is the unemployment rate made up of? People not working or people collection an unemployment check? Does it include people that lost their second job? Does it include people that got paid in cash and lost their job? People laid off. All I see around me is help wanted signs. SEPTA has driver shortages every day.
I do believe there is a ton of jobs to fill. With 4 million boomer retiring a month that leaves a lot of spaces to fill.
Would it be better to post a number of people receiving a paycheck?

[E7]

How do the illegal aliens figure into this?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

What is the unemployment rate made up of?

People that applied for and/or are receiving benefits that had a job of record. If they were cash off the books, then that's not counted; no records of their having a job to lose. I'm a multiple 1099 contractor and self-employed. I don't actually show up on most employment records - not on a payroll. There are a lot of 1099 contractor employees!!!

There are a lot of open jobs - there are a lot of people w/o appropriate skills, training, education. It's a mismatch problem. That big push for everyone to get a college degree failed to produce people with appropriate skills, training, education. And then a lot of people with appropriate skills, training, education retired.....

Employment participation number is people on payroll receiving a paycheck.

All this stuff gets reported monthly, too.

[robert.]

i always feel that these numbers are not black or white. They feel spun into grey.

[up148]

Yes, and an interesting fact is almost every businessman I speak with, including trade contractors, they all complain about lack of qualified applicants. This includes a great guy in CA in the upholstery business. He lost his long time employee to an illness and has had to fire several new (younger) guys because they seemed to want to work on their schedule. 8-5 seems to be a thing of the past.

But, the same goes for local store businesses. No one can find quality help who want to work. What have we created?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

But, the same goes for local store businesses. No one can find quality help who want to work.

Most jobs of that order pay poorly and not enough to live on. Around here you had to carry 2-3 of those jobs to survive. Anyone with actual skills has moved on from those jobs. They want careers now that pay decent wages, and have decent benefits. After the surge in retirement, a lot of job opportunities opened up. A lot of people that could not get the better jobs moved in. They are not going back.

What have we created?

A world were people want careers with decent wages and decent benefits.

[robert.]

But, the same goes for local store businesses. No one can find quality help who want to work.

Most jobs of that order pay poorly and not enough to live on. Around here you had to carry 2-3 of those jobs to survive. Anyone with actual skills has moved on from those jobs. They want careers now that pay decent wages, and have decent benefits. After the surge in retirement, a lot of job opportunities opened up. A lot of people that could not get the better jobs moved in. They are not going back.

What have we created?

A world were people want careers with decent wages and decent benefits.

Yes several things have changed. People are calling B.S on the bullsheet jobs. If you work for the local grocery store. They can send you home at anytime. You go in thinking that you have an 8 hour shift. 2 hours in they send you home due to no customers. They only schedule you for 32 hours a week. 32x$15= $480. Minus 25 percent for tax. Comes out to $360. You only get that much if they did not send you home early one or two days. That's not a livable salary. If you're a regular employee, they treat you bad.
Yet none of us will want to shop at a grocery store that pays $22.00 an hour.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Yes several things have changed. People are calling B.S on the bullsheet jobs. If you work for the local grocery store. They can send you home at anytime. You go in thinking that you have an 8 hour shift. 2 hours in they send you home due to no customers. They only schedule you for 32 hours a week. 32x$15= $480. Minus 25 percent for tax. Comes out to $360. You only get that much if they did not send you home early one or two days. That's not a livable salary. If you're a regular employee, they treat you bad.

You left out that that's not a 40 hour job so there's no benefits.

Yet none of us will want to shop at a grocery store that pays $22.00 an hour.

Wrong. Grocery stores around here pay that and better an hour. My son used to work for one........and he still had to have a 1099 gig on the side to survive living in this area.

[gregj410]

Trusting Democrats to give you accurate unemployment numbers is like trusting Democrats to count the votes

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Trusting Democrats to give you accurate unemployment numbers is like trusting Democrats to count the votes

Trusting Republicans to give you accurate unemployment numbers is like trusting Republicans to count the votes....today's Republicans prefer to live lies, believe & promote conspiracy theories as opposed to accepting reality. The days of being the fiscally and financially responsible party died off. Now today's Republicans can't count to 11 w/o taking their shoes off, and then they get to 16, 22 with both shoes off, and then they spend go more than Democrats on even more stupid social agendas.