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> Calculation of unemployment […] Define "unemployment". There are six (U-1 to -6) ways of classification in the US: * https://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm https

> Calculation of unemployment […] Define "unemployment". There are six (U-1 to -6) ways of classification in the US: * https://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm https://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm * https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/080415/true-unemployment-rate-u6-vs-u3.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/080415/true-... * https://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/unemployment.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/u/unemployment.asp And the fact that they're different between the US and other countries, and between other countries and other-other countries is well recognized; "International unemployment rates: how comparable are they?": * https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/06/art1full.pdf https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/06/art1full.pdf And this isn't something new; from 1957, "International Comparison of Unemployment Rates": * https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/measurement-and-behavior-unemployment/international-comparison-unemployment-rates https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/measurement-and-beha... Just because they're different does not mean that they are "misleading" or 'manipulated'. > The wealthiest people in the USA are now in the mode of grabbing what they can while the 'grabbing is still good.' How is this new? Is greed something discovered recently and especially in the US? * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedman_doctrine * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Age https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilded_Age Even stacking government with loyalist appointees is, to a certain extent, returning to 'the old ways' before reforms were enacted to clamp down on the practice: * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_service_reform_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_service_reform_in_the_Un...

tomrod 7mo ago
Kudos to this point. For those not realizing that unemployment has several definitions - isn't it wonderful that all were published AND all are well-documented? It's these points of reliability and trustworthiness that, complexity aside, we are losing from chaotic administration.
- indymike 7mo ago
  I worked on a couple of projects with state workforce development agencies and federal agencies. I was always impressed with how much focus there was on the integrity of unemployment numbers, and especially with the emphasis on making sure methodologies ensure that data from the late 1800s can be compared against modern data.
brynnbee 7mo ago
My biggest issue with "the" unemployment rate is that the one everyone hears all the time is around 4-5%. I think this is massively misleading because it lends itself to people thinking if you picked 100 random men from ages 25 to 54, you'd expect about 5 of them to be unemployed. The real number is actually around 20% are unemployed: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060 If you can dismiss 15% of them because they're not actively looking, or being a full-time parent, or disabled, I think it's missing the bigger picture that I would guess almost all of them want to work and have income, but can't due to things that we can fix as a society. Instead we divert to a 5% number that feels like "don't look over here" strategy. It's also entirely not capturing underemployment, which I imagine is a huge issue too.
datsci_est_2015 7mo ago
> Even stacking government with loyalist appointees is, to a certain extent, returning to 'the old ways' before reforms were enacted to clamp down on the practice: The irony of the anti DEI crowd being even less meritocratic than the caricature that they’ve created of their opposition.

tomrod 7mo ago

Kudos to this point. For those not realizing that unemployment has several definitions - isn't it wonderful that all were published AND all are well-documented? It's these points of reliability and trustworthiness that, complexity aside, we are losing from chaotic administration.

indymike 7mo ago
I worked on a couple of projects with state workforce development agencies and federal agencies. I was always impressed with how much focus there was on the integrity of unemployment numbers, and especially with the emphasis on making sure methodologies ensure that data from the late 1800s can be compared against modern data.

brynnbee 7mo ago

My biggest issue with "the" unemployment rate is that the one everyone hears all the time is around 4-5%. I think this is massively misleading because it lends itself to people thinking if you picked 100 random men from ages 25 to 54, you'd expect about 5 of them to be unemployed. The real number is actually around 20% are unemployed: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060 If you can dismiss 15% of them because they're not actively looking, or being a full-time parent, or disabled, I think it's missing the bigger picture that I would guess almost all of them want to work and have income, but can't due to things that we can fix as a society. Instead we divert to a 5% number that feels like "don't look over here" strategy. It's also entirely not capturing underemployment, which I imagine is a huge issue too.

datsci_est_2015 7mo ago

> Even stacking government with loyalist appointees is, to a certain extent, returning to 'the old ways' before reforms were enacted to clamp down on the practice: The irony of the anti DEI crowd being even less meritocratic than the caricature that they’ve created of their opposition.