Category Archives: Economy

Greensboro Guilford County NC working poor, Labor Day carries a different meaning, Unemployment lingering at 9 percent or higher, Part time jobs and no health care

Greensboro Guilford County NC working poor, Labor Day carries a different meaning, Unemployment lingering at 9 percent or higher, Part time jobs and no health care

“Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,”…Keith Hall, former BLS chief

“However … health insurance rates and benefit coverage plan costs have continued to increase. As a result of those increases, county employees have experienced a pay decrease that has grown larger each year.”…Guilford County Interim Manager Sharisse Fuller

“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.”…Barack Obama

 

 

A good article from the front top page of the Greensboro News Record September 2, 2013.

“For the working poor, Labor Day carries a different meaning”

“After years of area unemployment lingering at 9 percent or higher, Labor Day is a time of appreciation for those who have held on to a job.

But for many of Greensboro’s employed, a job hasn’t been enough to lift them to economic stability.

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture keeps data on “food insecurity” — essentially, when a family has faced significant periods where it didn’t have enough to eat.

According to a report by Feeding America based on the agriculture department’s data in addition to that of the U.S. Census Bureau, 33 percent of the 95,480 people in Guilford County who are food insecure have incomes too high to qualify for federal nutrition programs commonly known as food stamps.

Yes, it’s true. You can be food insecure, but ineligible for food stamps.”

“In the Triad, a number of studies have ranked the area among the nation’s worst in terms of poverty and food hardship.”

““You have the people that were barely making it with 40 hours. Now, they’re below 30 hours and have the same household bills,” Sturdivant said. “And at the end of the day, if they go out and get another part-time job, they still won’t have insurance.””

Read more:

http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_6078cd82-11cc-11e3-9e01-0019bb30f31a.html

 

Syria distracts, Another Obama diversion, What’s happening while no one is looking, Gun control, Debt ceiling, Real unemployment, AL VT eligibility cases, Blagojevich appeal, FDIC v Mahajan

Syria distracts, Another Obama diversion, What’s happening while no one is looking, Gun control, Debt ceiling, Real unemployment, AL VT eligibility cases, Blagojevich appeal, FDIC v Mahajan

“we do know that Islamic extremists with ties to Al-Qa’ida participated in the attack.”…CIA Benghazi talking points memo
“400 US surface-to-air missiles were ‘STOLEN’ from Libya during the Benghazi attack and are ‘now in the hands of Al Qaeda’, claims whistleblower”…The Mail Online August 13, 2013

“Because I tend to rely on evidence and not on hearsay, I believe we should focus our attention on Amrish Mahajan and the Mutual Bank of Harvey, not on Giannoulias and the Broadway Bank, if we are to assign names to the financial institution about which Sneed of the Chicago Sun-Times has heard “rumblings.” Although Mahajan is not known to readers of No Quarter and to the national media, I imagine they will desire more information on the unscrupulous banker once they read the information I unpack below the fold. And yes, Obama is involved, deeply involved.”…Truthteller, NoQuarterUSA October 12, 2008

 

 

Never let a good crisis go to waste.

If you don’t have one. Create one.

From Zero Hedge August 29, 2013.

“As Syria Distracts, Here’s What’s Happening While No One Is Looking”

“Gun control

Today, the Obama administration announced fresh measures to restrict the availability of firearms in the Land of the Free.

This time around, they want to ban the re-importation of firearms that have been exported from the US to allied nations. They also want to raise the bar on federal background checks.

But rather than go through Congress, the Obama administration is simply going to create a new ‘rule’.

‘Rules’ are a type of regulation created directly by agencies within the Executive Branch. They’re not laws, but they carry the same weight and effect as laws, complete with criminal and civil penalties.

Oftentimes, hundreds of new rules are proposed every single day in the Land of the Free. It’s the easiest way for the President to circumvent the Constitution and simply decree whatever he wants.

Debt ceiling

The US government is once again danger close to defaulting.

Bear in mind, at the start of the ‘credit crisis’ six years ago, US federal debt was just $8.9 trillion. Today, US federal debt stands at $16.738 trillion– 88% higher.

Curiously, the statutory debt limit is $16.699 trillion… so the US government already breached its limit 39 billion dollars ago.

For the last few months, the Treasury Department has been resorting to ‘extraordinary measures’ in order to avoid default (i.e. things that you and I would go to jail for).

But Treasury Secretary Jack Lew is about out of bullets. So the US could be in danger of defaulting at any moment, especially if an unexpected fiscal ‘surprise’ should arise… like, uh, war.

That’s the funny thing about war– they tend to be expensive. And starting another war might very well be the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

Read more:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-29/syria-distracts-here%E2%80%99s-whats-happening-while-no-one-looking

I applaud Zero Hedge for pointing out another Obama camp diversion.

However, they left out a few things that Obama might wanted attention diverted away from.

  • The real employment situation. Huge drop in labor force participation, increase in part time employees, etc.
  • AL and VT supreme court Obama eligibility cases.
  • Blagojevich appeal.
  • FDIC v Mahajan lawsuit.
  • Obamacare impact on jobs and health care costs.
  • Add your own Obama problem. Time prohibits listing them all.

Obama truly great phony, Thomas Sowell August 27, 2013, Obama concentrates skills on effect of his words, Democrat Bartle Bull called Obama a hustler

Obama truly great phony, Thomas Sowell August 27, 2013, Obama concentrates skills on effect of his words, Democrat Bartle Bull called Obama a hustler

“Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,”…Keith Hall, former BLS chief

“If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.”…Barack Obama
“the Times of the nineteenth of December had published the official forecasts of the output of various classes of consumption goods in the fourth quarter of 1983, which was also the sixth quarter of the Ninth Three-Year Plan. Today’s issue contained a statement of the actual output, from which it appeared that the forecasts were in every instance grossly wrong. Winston’s job was to rectify the original figures by making them agree with the later ones.”…George Orwell, “1984”

 

 

From Capitalism Magazine August 27, 2013.

“A Truly Great Phony”

“Many years ago, I was a member of a committee that was recommending to whom grant money should be awarded. Since I knew one of the applicants, I asked if this meant that I should recuse myself from voting on his application.

“No,” the chairman said. “I know him too — and he is one of the truly great phonies of our time.””

“This episode came back to me recently, as I read an incisive column by Charles Krauthammer, citing some of the many gaffes in public statements by the President of the United States.”

“Nor is this the only gross misstatement that President Obama has gotten away with, thanks to the mainstream media, which sees no evil, hears no evil and speaks no evil when it comes to Obama.

The presidential gaffe that struck me when I heard it was Barack Obama’s reference to a military corps as a military “corpse.” He is obviously a man who is used to sounding off about things he has paid little or no attention to in the past. His mispronunciation of a common military term was especially revealing to someone who was once in the Marine Corps, not Marine “corpse.”

Like other truly talented phonies, Barack Obama concentrates his skills on the effect of his words on other people — most of whom do not have the time to become knowledgeable about the things he is talking about. Whether what he says bears any relationship to the facts is politically irrelevant.

A talented con man, or a slick politician, does not waste his time trying to convince knowledgeable skeptics. His job is to keep the true believers believing. He is not going to convince the others anyway.

Back during Barack Obama’s first year in office, he kept repeating, with great apparent earnestness, that there were “shovel-ready” projects that would quickly provide many much-needed jobs, if only his spending plans were approved by Congress.”

Read more:

http://capitalismmagazine.com/2013/08/truly-great-phony/

 

Thanks to CDR Charles Kerchner.

Obama Obamacare part time job economy lowers household income, Sentier Research household income index June 2013 92.8, Dropped from over 98 when Obama took office

Obama Obamacare part time job economy lowers household income, Sentier Research household income index June 2013 92.8, Dropped from over 98 when Obama took office

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Middle-class people who have never been out of work find themselves chronically unemployed and slipping into poverty.”…Greensboro News Record August 25, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

The truth about jobs, unemployment and the economy has been reported here.

You were warned not to believe the stated unemployment rate and the alleged improvement in the jobs situation and the economy.

You have been given the facts about the huge numbers of workers who have dropped out of the labor force since Obama took control of the White House in January of 2009.

The US Labor Force Participation Rate dropped 2.3 percent since Obama took control.

The NC Labor Force Participation Rate dropped 1.4 percent from January to July of 2013.

The huge increase in part time workers and jobs under Obama, in many cases directly attributable to the impact of Obamacare, is an underreported but very important story.

Remember, part time workers are counted as employed and improve the unemployment rate.

However, numbers do not lie.

Sooner or later the truth emerges and here is a good example.

From Sentier Research.

“The Household Income Index for June was 92.8”

“Our household income index permits monthly tracking of median annual household income before taxes. The index has been computed monthly beginning in January 2000. The base index value for January 2000 is 100.0. Each month the latest estimate of median household income is adjusted to reflect changes in prices since January 2000 and then seasonally adjusted to account for seasonal variations in the way households report their income in the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS). The median annual household income for each month is divided by the January 2000 median to compute the index.

Data have been compiled from each monthly CPS survey taken since January 2000 (as of June 2013, 162 surveys in total). Each of these surveys collected data for a nationally representative sample of more than 50,000 interviewed households and their members (approximately 130,000 per month). The survey collects the detailed information needed to determine the employment characteristics of all civilians age 16 years old and over and to compute the official unemployment rate. It also collects key demographic and social characteristics for all household members, including children.

Estimates of household income from the survey are based on a single question that asks respondents to report the total income received by the household during the 12-month period prior to the survey month. The definition of income used in the survey includes the following:

  • Wages and salary
  • Nonfarm self-employment income
  • Farm self-employment income
  • Social Security and Supplemental Security Income
  • Interest, dividends, net rental income, and royalties
  • Cash public assistance (federal and state)
  • Unemployment compensation and workers’ compensation
  • Retirement income from pensions, annuities, other retirement plans
  • Veterans’ pensions and compensation
  • Child support and alimony
  • Other cash income excluding capital gains or lump sum, one-time amounts”

Read more:

http://www.sentierresearch.com/HouseholdIncomeIndex.html

The Household Income Index was over 98 when Obama took office.

HouseholdIncomeIndex_UnemploymentRate_06_2013

The cost of Obamacare and Obama policies is taking its toll.

Greensboro News Record August 25, 2013, Employment very bad, Middle class people who have never been out of work find themselves chronically unemployed and slipping into poverty

Greensboro News Record August 25, 2013, Employment very bad, Middle class people who have never been out of work find themselves chronically unemployed and slipping into poverty

“North Carolina’s unemployment rate fell for the fourth consecutive month in May to 8.8 percent, but the slight drop was largely due to a shrinking labor force rather than the creation of new jobs, economists said.”…Raleigh News Observer June 21, 2013
“Middle-class people who have never been out of work find themselves chronically unemployed and slipping into poverty.”…Greensboro News Record August 25, 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

Good news.

The Greensboro News Record, which has recently been reticent to report the dismal jobs situation in the Triad and NC, has produced a realistic report and placed it on the front page.

From the Greensboro News Record August 25, 2013.

“Recession may be over in the Triad, but not for those who need jobs”

“Unemployment in this region, however you measure it, is very bad.

Middle-class people who have never been out of work find themselves chronically unemployed and slipping into poverty. In the recession’s wake, 20 percent of Greensboro residents are poor, according to 2011 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.

In the Greensboro-High Point metro area, which covers Guilford, Rockingham and Randolph counties, the June unemployment rate was 9.7 percent. The seasonally adjusted rate was 9.3 percent. That’s a slight improvement from a year ago, amounting to a net increase of 4,500 jobs compared with June 2012.

But pull back that lens and look at the state-designated Piedmont Triad Partnership region: an area that encompasses Guilford, Forsyth and 10 surrounding counties.

Since Jan. 1, 2008, the number of unemployed people in the region has grown from 45,000 to 78,000.”

“At 8.9 percent, North Carolina’s unemployment rate is 0.7 percentage points lower than a year ago. But the national rate is 7.4 percent.

Several employment segments are a drag on the Triad economy, according to a monthly analysis of the region’s economy produced by UNCG and called the Dixon Hughes Goodman Triad Business Index. The index defines the Triad as Guilford, Forsyth and four adjoining counties.

Manufacturing employment, the region’s staple industry, dropped by 1.7 percent in June compared with June 2012.

The number of education and health care jobs dropped by 3.3 percent, and that’s a segment that had been considered stable.”

Read more:

http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_0b20f308-0cf1-11e3-94de-0019bb30f31a.html

This is a good report.

However, why not add what was reported here a few days ago.

Now for the real news.

The Labor Force Participation Rate plummeted 1.4 percent From January to July 2013.

This is huge news.

Ask your local TV News or Newspaper why they are not reporting this.

Check it for yourself here:

http://esesc23.esc.state.nc.us/d4/LausSelection.aspx

 

New home sales drop 13.4 percent, Lowest since October 2012, Rising mortgage rates and slow employment growth, June sales revised downward, Obamacare part time job economy

New home sales drop 13.4 percent, Lowest since October 2012, Rising mortgage rates and slow employment growth, June sales revised downward, Obamacare part time job economy

“Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,”…Keith Hall, former BLS chief

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

The article doesn’t mention the impact of Obamacare on the job market. It mentions slow employment growth.

But we are in a Obamacare part time job economy and still have high unemployment rates.

From Market Watch August 23, 2013.

“New-home sales slump to lowest rate since October”

“Sales of new homes slumped in July with each region seeing sizeable drops, raising questions about the recovery in the housing market.

New housing construction is seen in Poolesville, Maryland.
New-home sales fell 13.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 394,000 in July, the lowest rate since October, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported Friday.

Rising mortgage rates may be behind July’s drop, though the monthly data are quite volatile and economists had expected some pull back after sales gains in recent months. Longer-term trends point to continuing growth: new-home sales in July were up 6.8% from the year-earlier period.

“This was an unambiguously weak report, and it reflects in part some of the negative impact of higher mortgage rates,” said Millan Mulraine, director of U.S. research and strategy at TD Securities.

Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a July sales rate of 485,000, compared with an original June estimate that pegged the rate at 497,000. On Friday the government revised June’s rate to 455,000.”

“However, there’s concern about the bite that rising rates will take out of demand. Since early May, the average rate for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has increased more than one percentage point. As the Federal Reserve starts winding down its massive bond-buying program, a tapering that could start this year, rates will continue to rise, forcing would-be buyers to scale back purchase plans.

Rising rates aren’t the only headwinds facing consumers and builders. Slow employment growth is also hampering sales as buyers are wary of forming new households. Also, relatively low inventories are heating up competition and prices, making it tough for first-time owners to participate in the market.”

Read more:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-home-sales-hit-lowest-rate-since-october-2013-08-23

NC July unemployment rate rises to 8.9 percent, Labor Force Participation Rate plummets 1.4 percent since Jan 2013, NC tied for third worst unemployment rate

NC July unemployment rate rises to 8.9 percent, Labor Force Participation Rate plummets 1.4 percent since Jan 2013, NC tied for third worst unemployment rate

“North Carolina’s unemployment rate fell for the fourth consecutive month in May to 8.8 percent, but the slight drop was largely due to a shrinking labor force rather than the creation of new jobs, economists said.”…Raleigh News Observer June 21, 2013

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

 

From the Raleigh News Observer August 19, 2013.
“NC jobless rate rises in July to 8.9 percent”

“The unemployment rate in North Carolina inched higher in July, the first uptick in the closely watched economic indicator since January.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose one-tenth of a percentage point to 8.9 percent last month, according to data released Monday by the state Department of Commerce’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division.

“It was a disappointing month,” said Mekael Teshome, a PNC Financial Services Group economist.

Although the jobless rate was seven-tenths of a percentage point lower than it was a year ago, North Carolina’s unemployment rate is tied with Rhode Island for the third-worst in the nation. Only Illinois, at 9.2 percent, and Nevada, where the unemployment rate is 9.5 percent, have higher unemployment rates.

The national unemployment rate for July was 7.4 percent, an improvement from June’s 7.6 percent.

“I think we have a story of two North Carolinas,” Teshome said. “We have some really strong areas in the state – the Triangle area, Charlotte – but then other parts of the state are struggling to get back on their feet from the Great Recession. Overall, the state’s recovery has been pretty modest.”

Teshome said that the decline in the labor force by 12,208 workers was particularly disconcerting. The labor force encompasses workers who have a job plus unemployed workers who are actively seeking a job.

“When people are dropping out of the labor force, it’s a sign that they are less confident about their job prospects,” he said. “So people are discouraged and leaving the labor force.”

The labor force in July sunk to its lowest level since February 2012, said Allan Freyer, public policy analyst for the nonprofit N.C. Justice Center’s Budget and Tax Center.

“That shows we are going in the wrong direction,” Freyer said.”

Read more:
Now for the real news.

The Labor Force Participation Rate plummeted 1.4 percent From January to July 2013.

This is huge news.

Ask your local TV News or Newspaper why they are not reporting this.

Check it for yourself here:

http://esesc23.esc.state.nc.us/d4/LausSelection.aspx

 

 

Forever 21 memo demotes full time workers to part time, Obama and Obamacare part time economy, Medical coverage ends August 31, 2013, Hours not exceed 29.5 per week

Forever 21 memo demotes full time workers to part time, Obama and Obamacare part time economy, Medical coverage ends August 31, 2013, Hours not exceed 29.5 per week

“Approximately 1 million more people could only find part time employment since Obama took office in January 2009.”…Citizen Wells August 2013

“Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,”…Keith Hall, former BLS chief

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

From Zero Hedge August 19, 2013.

“Obamacare Strikes At Forever 21 Which Forcibly Demotes Some Workers To 29.5 Hours Per Week”

“A firestorm broke out during the weekend over the latest part-timing impact from Obamacare (covered here extensively previously), this time in the form of a leaked memo by retailer Forever 21, which announced that some employees would be demoted to part-time status. The memo, which announced forcible part-time changes would take place on August 18 with full loss of benefits to take place by August 31, was leaked by a disgruntled employee on their Facebook page.

The highlight from the memo:

Company-wide, Forever 21 recently audited its staffing levels, staffing needs and payroll in conduction with reviewing its overall spending budget. As a result, we are reducing a number of full-time non-management positions…. As a Part-Time employee your regular schedule will not exceed 29.5 hours per week.

As is well known, with the ACA mandating companies who employ 50 full-time workers or more to provide health insurance coverage, one much exploited loophole is to cut full-time workers to part-time status, i.,e., have them work less than 30 hours. Or 29.5 hours in this case.  Following this forcible full-time demotion, employees will lose medical, dental, vision and voluntary coverage on Aug. 31 and will no longer accrue paid time off.

The memo is below:”

Forever21Memo

Read more:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-19/obamacare-strikes-forever-21-which-forcibly-demotes-some-workers-295-hours-week

 

Obama Obamacare create 110 part time jobs for every new full time job since March, Keith Hall former BLS chief, Employers cut back on workers hours, Fewer hours no insurance

Obama Obamacare create 110 part time jobs for every new full time job since March, Keith Hall former BLS chief, Employers cut back on workers hours, Fewer hours no insurance

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Approximately 1 million more people could only find part time employment since Obama took office in January 2009.”…Citizen Wells August 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

 

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution August 5, 2013.

“Welcome to the Obamcare economy. From McClatchy:

“The July government employment report released Friday showed the job market treading water.”And a closer look at one of the two measures the Labor Department uses to gauge employment suggests that part-time work accounted for almost all the job growth that’s been reported over the past six months. …” ‘Over the last six months, of the net job creation, 97 percent of that is part-time work,’ said Keith Hall, a senior researcher at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center. ‘That is really remarkable.'”Hall is no ordinary academic. He ran the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the agency that puts out the monthly jobs report, from 2008 to 2012. Over the past six months, he said, the Household Survey shows 963,000 more people reporting that they were employed, and 936,000 of them reported they’re in part-time jobs.” ‘That is a really high number for a six-month period,’ Hall said. ‘I’m not sure that has ever happened over six months before.’ “”
“How, then, to explain what’s happened since January? Back to the McClatchy article and Hall, the former BLS chief:

“Hall speculated that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, shorthanded as Obamacare, might be resulting in employers shifting workers to part-time status to avoid coming health care obligations.”

‘There’s been so much talk about the effects of Obamacare on part-time work,’ he said. ‘This is such an unusual thing to see.’ ”
By “so much talk,” Hall of course was referring to the numerous stories of employers that are cutting back on their workers’ hours to avoid qualifying for Obamacare’s mandate to provide health insurance for them. Just yesterday, the AJC reported on the various ways local employers are trying to cope with the looming mandate (subscription to MyAJC required for link), including the decision by AAA Parking to move 250 full-time workers to part-time status. Many of the Americans affected by these business decisions are, of course, the very people Obamacare was supposed to help.

In fact, we can get even more specific than the January-July numbers Hall outlined.

Looking at the BLS data, the number of Americans working part-time for economic reasons — i.e., not because they want to work part-time — hit a multi-year low in March. Since then, part-time jobs have accounted for a whopping 99.1 percent of all jobs created. Over the past four months, on a net basis, just 9,000 full-time jobs have been added in the entire United States.

That means there have been 110 part-time jobs created for every one full-time job since March.”

Read more:

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/kyle-wingfield/2013/aug/05/obamacare-economy-35-part-time-jobs-every-new-full/

Obama BLS jobs data recap August 3, 2013, Fact vs fiction, Employment data rectified as in 1984, Orwellian wordsmithing or outright lies?, Labor force dropouts part time workers and food stamps reveal truth

Obama BLS jobs data recap August 3, 2013, Fact vs fiction, Employment data rectified as in 1984, Orwellian wordsmithing or outright lies?, Labor force dropouts part time workers and food stamps reveal truth

“11.4%: What the U.S. unemployment rate would be if labor force participation were back to January 2008 levels.” …James Pethokoukis, American Enterprise Institute, June 2013

“Approximately 1 million more people could only find part time employment since Obama took office in January 2009.”…Citizen Wells August 2013

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984”

 

 

You are being lied to.

Don’t take my word for it.

Look it up.

This past week, we received the usual Orwellian reporting on jobs, unemployment rate, initial claims and the economy.

This Market Watch heading was typical.

“Payrolls disappoint,
but unemployment falls.”

No mention of the one month drop in the Labor Force Participation Rate or the huge drop since Obama took the White House in January 2009.

On Thursday the BLS reported initial claims were 326,000. No wonder. Think about it. Huge numbers have dropped out of the labor force.

And part time workers. You don’t have to fire them, just cut back on their hours.

From the BLS Employment Situation report for July 2013.
“Both the number of unemployed persons, at 11.5 million, and the unemployment rate, at 7.4 percent, edged down in July. Over the year, these measures were down by 1.2 million and 0.8 percentage point, respectively.”

“The civilian labor force participation rate was 63.4 percent in July, little changed over the month.”

“Among the marginally attached, there were 988,000 discouraged workers in July, up by 136,000 from a year earlier.”

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

The  Labor Force Participation Rate dropped .1 percent in July. That is significant.

The increase of 136,000 discouraged worker from 2012 is certainly significant.

So, do you believe that the unemployment rate is 7.4 percent and that the jobs situation has improved since Obama took office in January 2009?

                                                                               Jan 2009          July 2013
Labor Force
Participation Rate                                                 65.7                    63.4
Employment
Population Ratio                                                   60.6                    58.7
Could only find
part time work                                                    1,676,000   2,665,000
Not in Labor Force                                         81,293,000  88,560,000
Not in Labor Force
Want a Job Now                                                5,866,000    6,862,000
Not in labor force
Discouraged                                                         734,000         988,000