I heard there is an 4.7 unemployment rate from..

[butterfly77]

Lindsay Graham on meet the press. I notice everytime the republicons are discussing a subject on some show they throw in low unemployment Bush did it the other day while doing interviews sitting on the border of mexico. All repugs are doing it and puttin it some where in the discussion.

Everytime I hear it, it seems to go lower and lower before graham I everyone I heard was saying 5. something. Has anyone ever seen any democrat refute this point I haven't. They usually don't say anything and let this lie go unchallenged.

[cyberpj]

1. But they never talk about the quality of the employment these days. nt

[lindisfarne]

16. Nor will they talk about the unemployed not included in the statistics

because they have been looking for a job for too long.

[liberal N proud]

2. The way the government has reported the unemployment rate since Reagan

is meaningless.
What they report means absolutely nothing in regards to the real unemployed.
If you are not drawings benefits, then you must not be looking for work there for they don't report you as unemployed.

[kentuck]

3. That's because...

they are pushing the "great economy" as the political issue this fall. Graham said it was the lowest unemployment rate "in history" and nobody called him on it. How soon they forget. It was 4.1 when Bush took office in 2001. :)

[butterfly77]

10. My point exactly the dems always...

wait until its too late to point out their lies

[Telly Savalas]

17. In this particular case, the panel was only Russert and 2 Republicans

so there wasn't any opportunity for a Democrat to counter the charge.

[butterfly77]

18. The discussion was about immigration...

my point is that they have been doing this on other shows with democrats and they don't say anything, they let them ramble on the their other lies about the war and whatever.

[Telly Savalas]

21. Yeah, I won't dispute that it happens sometimes.

We've got some good people in the party that won't let bullshit slide, but then there are too many others who act as if they hold diplomas from the Alan Colmes Debate Academy.

[win_in_06]

15. Was the same standard for measurement of unemployment used

during the strong Clinton economy? Because we loved it then.

[butterfly77]

19. I suspect no because..

the bush administration has changed everything which includes laws,rules, agencies , standards, guidelines so and everyone he puts in to head an agency is a liar

[Vincardog]

4. They are all hiding from the inconvenient fact that they are not counting

THE MILLIONS OF US WHO HAVE FALLEN OFF THE BOOKS OR ARE WORKING low wage jobs trying to get by. Because we can not contribute to their campaigners and our votes do not get counted, we do not count.

[LongTomH]

5. Actually closer to something like 10%

I undertand if you add in the long-term unmeployed - meaning discourage workers who are no longer actively looking for work - and people working part-time who need to work fulltime, it's closer to 10%. 10% really puts in recession-level territory.

[papau]

6. low paid jobs plus the estimate of birth/death count plus the not

looking for work question being implemented differently makes the rate seem low and the current disaster gets reported as great unemployment numbers.

[orwell]

7. Almost all...

...of the economic data is "cooked," including the unemployment report. Needless to say, it is always biased toward making the politicians look better, never the other way around. This has been going on at least since the Kennedy Administration, and has been carried on by both Republicans and Democrats.

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. Unreliable statistic

- Only really counts people that are receiving Unemployment Benefits. Once those run out, most no longer report to the DES office even though they are still looking for work

- Does nt include under-employed workers. A huge number of workers have lost high paying jobs with benefits and now work part-time, with no benefits, in lower paying jobs that they are over-qualified for.

- Does not count self-employed workers that are having trouble finding work.

[raccoon]

22. If the underemployed were counted, the numbers would be

truly staggering.

My guess--and I'm just guessing, would be at least 30% of people working. Working at least an hour a week, I mean, or sold at least one item on Ebay during the week.

[tridim]

9. I'm fairly sure everyone knows that # is BS

Simply because people see real unemployment with their own eyes.

[Joanne98]

11. The unemployment rate is around 10%. If you actually count.

the long-term unemployed. This is one of the biggest lies.

[primative1]

12. Part of the problem or the part of the solution

Noone is interested in pointing out the truth. Thus noone realy knows the truth. What I watch is the labor market participation rate. Its the only number that seems to tell the story. More people .. less jobs. If your feeling the pain you know, if not you think you are somehow better.
Thats the facts in this "merit based" society.

[area51]

13. unemployment rate

Here's an interesting pdf interview with a conservative economist who says our unemployment rate is at least 12%.

It's interesting that republinazis are trying to say the economy is great when people's own eyes -- and wallets -- tell them that the republinazis are fscking liars.

[mcscajun]

14. That's BS -- the true rate is nearly double that figure.

March 2006 Unemployment figures, Not seasonally adjusted:

U3: 4.8%

U6: 8.5%

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf

More detail here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1249059&mesg_id=1249488

[NI4NI]

20. They've taken credit for what Clinton did

How many times have you heard a 'lican say that "today's unemployment rate is the average rate of the 70's 80's and 90's" without any Democrat saying that the rate was over 7% the day Clinton took office and at 4% on the day he left? Or, that the national unemployment rate dropped every year under Clinton? It's been reported how Bush's administration has changed the way that the unemployment rate is being calculated, that is why it's at 4.7% which I've also heard 'licans proudly proclaim is "nearly at an all time historical low". Like everything else, more deceit and twisted facts.