When the Feds release this week’s unemployment data, expect more chatter about the falling labor participation rate … which reflects the increasing number of discouraged people who have stopped looking for work and don’t get counted in the unemployment numbers.
For the 4 years prior to Obama’s inauguration, the labor force participation rate hung pretty steady … at around 66%.
Since Obama took office, that rate has plummeted to 63.7%.
Let’s try some math skills …
If unemployment is 8.3% with a 63.7% labor force participation rate, what would the unemployment rate be if the participation rate were at the pre-Obama 66%?
Answer: about 11.5% …
Obama’s economic hope continues to be that more and more people get discouraged — or, just stay on unemployment for the full 99 weeks.
Bingo, down goes the unemployment rate.
The Homa Files 