Yahoo Columnist Playing Fast and Loose with Numbers?

[davidpdx]

I'm just curious about some of the statements in this article and whether they are true or not. The person who wrote it certainly doesn't do a good job of saying where they came from, so it leaves the reader wondering if they are from DOL.

"Since the current recession began in December 2007, it's estimated that nearly 8 million jobs have been lost."

"The unemployed who stop looking for work become classified as "discouraged," and the number of discouraged workers continues to grow. And these discouraged workers are an added twist to the nation's unemployment problem: Discouraged workers are no longer considered unemployed, which is part of why the 9.5 percent rate of unemployment understates our current crisis. It's also one of the reasons the unemployment rate dropped in June from 9.7 to 9.5 percent. If you add the 1.2 million "discouraged" workers to the 14.6 million unemployed, you have 15.8 million out-of-work Americans."

The second one quotes a WSJ article, which I find questionable. The 1.2 million discouraged workers also has no source.

Edit: Here is the link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100721/bs_yblog_upshot/congress-to-extend-jobless-benefits-but-employment-crisis-continues

Second Edit: Fixed quotes

[WCGreen]

1. Here is a link to Labor Departments Bureau of Stats that show the 1.2 million number...

http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea38.pdf

It's the 8th line down from the top of the chart....