What is the real unemployment rate in Connecticut?

The real unemployment rate in Connecticut is not 8.2%.  It is really around 23%.  So why is unemployment reported much lower than its actual rate?

Good question.  It appears that the federal government manipulates the reporting of key economic data for political purposes, using methodologies that tend to mask bad news.  Please don't tell me you are surprised!!!!

How does the federal government calculate unemployment?  Its unemployment number ignores all those millions of "long-term discouraged workers” that the Bureau of Labor Statistics removed in 1994 under the Clinton administration.  In other words, it does not count all those individuals who looked for work in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, and have not looked for work during the past four weeks because it finally occurred to them that there aren't any jobs.  Duh?! 

So according to its method of calculating unemployment, if everyone in this country lost their jobs, and after nine years and forty-eight weeks finally gave up looking for work, then four weeks later after everyone stopped looking for work, our politicians would tell us that the unemployment rate is 0%?  Slick, huh, Willie?  Isn't that called moving the yardstick?

On the other hand, when all those millions of discouraged people are included in the unemployment numbers, it is found that nearly one out of four working adults are without jobs.  And that number has not changed much at all from that calculated in 2011.  So what does this mean? 

First, there has been no recovery (just go out and look and talk...is anyone happy other than the town drunk)? 

Second, there will be no recovery.  It's been over four years.  Do you really think that those morons in Washington have a clue?

Third, the real unemployment rate will only continue to increase over the next generation because the Trans-Pacific Treaty will ship another 40 million jobs out of our country to Asia.  By the way, that Trans-Pacific Treaty was being negotiated behind closed doors during the election season.  Gee, I wonder why.

But what troubles me is our response.  Why are not Berlin's public schools teaching our students Chinese?  In China, their students start school at 7 AM, remain there till 5 PM, and are more fluent in English in grade school than 47% of our population here!  Perhaps we should bus our students to China.

Of course, the government will continue to mask the real unemployment rates for political purposes, ignoring all the millions who have given up looking for jobs because they are too busy giving speeches and raising money to get re-elected.  Seriously, do you think they really "feel your pain"?  Slick Willie's net worth was only $250,000 when he became President in 1992.  He made $76 million over the first ten years after leaving office just giving speeches:  he was good at talking.  But do you really think any of them in Washington feel your pain?

Some may ask, why have millions given up looking for jobs?  Well, the simple answer is:  do you see any help wanted ads in the Hartford Courant?  There used to be pages and pages of help wanted ads.  Now I cannot even find the help wanted section in the Sunday Courant.

And are you aware that for every job opening, there are received hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes in application?  I receive calls from people with graduate degrees in accounting begging to work for me for free in order to put that work experience on their resume.  Do you dare to utter the word, "recovery"?  Try disaster.

So beware any statistics provided by politicians.  And please don't tell me that you are surprised that politicians are capable of lying and deceit.  Spare me such nonsense!