this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2026
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98
Unemployment improved — because thousands of workers disappeared. Where did they go? (www.washingtonpost.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by Sunflier@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world
23 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The U.S. economy shed jobs in July, yet the unemployment rate improved — an unusual pairing that points to a worrying story unfolding behind the numbers for some economists.

That’s because even as the U.S. economy lost jobs, American workers left the labor market faster.

Mom's basement might be the answer.

top 23 comments
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[–] Monument@piefed.world 43 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

The same thing that always happens –

Many workers are underemployed in roles that don’t have them working enough hours, don’t pay enough, or aren’t in their chosen field. They may still be seeking employment, but are not counted because they are employed in some fashion.

Many people have simply given up and have not looked for a job in the last two weeks because it’s impossible to penetrate the market, so they aren’t considered unemployed.

There are many other reasons, but essentially, the counting method and methodology are skewed to create the impression of a better economy than the one that actually exists for economic, political, social, and geopolitical purposes.
They do the same for inflation, too - looking at subsets of goods and periodically revising how CPI is calculated. It’s a lie.

[–] Zephorah@discuss.online 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

So, the only way an unemployed person counts as unemployed is while he’s submitting applications?

[–] Monument@piefed.world 15 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Ope. It’s more generous at 4 weeks, not 2 and doing anything to find work, not just submitting applications.

But - yeah.

[–] CaptDust@sh.itjust.works 27 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

The simpler explanation is the Dept of Labor is cooking the numbers. They were installed to wallpaper over massive unemployment, and they're getting the job done. Billionaire owned media is complacent and enabling this by continuing to trust their figures.

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 4 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

97.6% of statistics are made up.

[–] clif@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

89.7%, your statistic is out of date

[–] Soulphite@reddthat.com 4 points 2 weeks ago

60% of the time it works every time.

[–] Rhaedas@fedia.io 2 points 2 weeks ago

That's an improvement.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Cause the numbers aren't true.

Isn't that obvious ?

Trump fired the last woman doing the job because she wouldn't lie. He found someone who would.

[–] moldy_rice@piefed.keyboardvagabond.com 10 points 2 weeks ago

Concentration camps

[–] HappyCatLuvs_U@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

So far as I know, ~~gig work is not counted in the data, meaning driving for delivery apps, etc. So they probably dropped from the tracked economy into the gig economy.~~

I was wrong, see below comment

Some may also have pursued further education in some form.

Seperately, considering the adjustment downward for literally every months data following it's release, you can probably assume even the slight gain in employment this month will be adjusted down to a loss overall in a month or two.

[–] Hapankaali@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

Gig work is counted. That's not a relevant factor, though workers in the gig economy might be underemployed in some situations.

In fact, it has long been the case that employment numbers in the US are far behind those of certain other developed countries. Generally speaking, more egalitarian societies have higher employment rates since fewer people are marginalized, and fewer people can easily choose not to work.

[–] Malyca@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 weeks ago

Immigration abductions

[–] weps@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Why would they, of all things, not lie about economic numbers?

[–] Sunflier@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

They probably did. These are the numbers after they went through the tampering factory

[–] perviouslyiner@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Labor participation rate just went down to 61.4% - https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-labor-force-participation-rate.htm

[–] Kurtismayfield@lemmy.zip 1 points 2 weeks ago

We have a lot of retirees right now. There are 56 million people over 65 receiving SS according to the SSA. The 25-54 participation rate is a better measurement of whose actually working:

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300060

[–] altphoto@lemmy.today 2 points 2 weeks ago

He just got rid of 170,000 visas. So one would assume those are the jobs.