Payroll employment increases by 200,000 in January; unemployment rate unchanged at 4.1%

[progree]

16. "So pardon me if I don't believe the numbers accurately reflect the unemployment rate."

Just to be clear, I don't think U-3, the official unemployment rate, now at 4.1% accurately reflects what most people think of as an unemployment rate either. Since it requires people to have looked for work in the past 4 weeks in order to be counted.

My dispute is with the 179,000 jobs needed to keep up with population growth numbers. Since only about half the population works in even good times when you count children, full-time students, and the voluntarily retired elderly.