America has an economy converging rapidly on full employment?

[SlugSlinger]

Op- are you educated in economics? The reason I ask is you are quoting a leftist blog like its the gospel of economics.

The econmy has materially changed since obama took a leadership role. We now have the most people relying on government (taxpayers) paying for their existence in history. We have the least percentage of taxpayers in history. We have a fed that is printing money to refinance existing debt obligations. Interest rates are the lowest in history and the econmy is barely inkling out an increase. With rates so low, the economy should be booming and it's not. Prople should be buying houses like mad, and they're not. There is nothing left in the Feds tool bag to boost the econmy. We have unreported inflation, with milk, beef, eggs about double the costs as when obama took office and his administration reports 2-4% inflation. That is a joke! We have been surpassed by China as the worlds leading econmy. And everything is awesome here? Yeah, right! It's not China growing, it's the inherent decline in real value of the U.S. economy. And if we continue to elect socialist to leadership roles, this decline will continue and be the new norm.

When rates start to increase, and they will, this house of cards will crash.

 

[ronny]

And, unless I'm seriously mistaken, the U.S.' S&P rating remains at a downgraded level 3 years after the downgrade. How is that possible if things are so hunky dory?

 

[1krr]

Isn't it true that those unemployment numbers include part time workers and discounts people who have "left the workforce?" I mean a laid off engineer making ends meet as a Walmart greater isn't exactly the same as an engineer employed in their profession.

 

[RickN]

Isn't it true that those unemployment numbers include part time workers and discounts people who have "left the workforce?" I mean a laid off engineer making ends meet as a Walmart greater isn't exactly the same as an engineer employed in their profession.

You are correct.

 

[SMS]

Isn't it true that those unemployment numbers include part time workers and discounts people who have "left the workforce?" I mean a laid off engineer making ends meet as a Walmart greater isn't exactly the same as an engineer employed in their profession.

You are correct.

It does count part time workers, but the number is not just based on people who have "left the work force". It is derived from a much broader survey.

That is the often touted right wing talk radio line. The actual numbers are derived from this: http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm

Because unemployment insurance records relate only to people who have applied for such benefits, and since it is impractical to count every unemployed person each month, the government conducts a monthly survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. The CPS has been conducted in the United States every month since 1940, when it began as a Work Projects Administration program. In 1942, the U.S. Census Bureau took over responsibility for the CPS. The survey has been expanded and modified several times since then. In 1994, for instance, the CPS underwent a major redesign in order to computerize the interview process as well as to obtain more comprehensive and relevant information.

There are about 60,000 eligible households in the sample for this survey. This translates into approximately 110,000 individuals each month, a large sample compared to public opinion surveys, which usually cover fewer than 2,000 people. The CPS sample is selected so as to be representative of the entire population of the United States. In order to select the sample, all of the counties and independent cities in the country first are grouped into approximately 2,000 geographic areas (sampling units). The Census Bureau then designs and selects a sample of about 800 of these geographic areas to represent each state and the District of Columbia. The sample is a state-based design and reflects urban and rural areas, different types of industrial and farming areas, and the major geographic divisions of each state. (For a detailed explanation of CPS sampling methodology, see Chapter 1 of the BLS Handbook of Methods.)

Every month, one-fourth of the households in the sample are changed, so that no household is interviewed for more than 4 consecutive months. After a household is interviewed for 4 consecutive months, it leaves the sample for 8 months, and then is again interviewed for the same 4 calendar months a year later, before leaving the sample for good. As a result, approximately 75 percent of the sample remains the same from month to month and 50 percent remains the same from year to year. This procedure strengthens the reliability of estimates of month-to-month and year-to-year change in the data.