First, here’s the lowdown on the unemployment data from Jim Pethokoukis (and a few others):
August payroll employment increases (+169,000); unemployment rate little changed (7.3%) http://t.co/zqorrK1PCE #JobsReport #BLSdata
— BLS-Labor Statistics (@BLS_gov) September 6, 2013
Ugh. Both labor force participation rate and employment rate fall
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) September 6, 2013
Labor force participation fell to its lowest level since 1978.
— Ben Casselman (@bencasselman) September 6, 2013
Jobs report bottom line today: Massive downward revisions in June/July. 300k leave workforce, participation rate at 3-decade low.
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) September 6, 2013
10.8%: Jobless rate if labor force participation were at January 2009 levels
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) September 6, 2013
US employment rate is 58.6%, exactly where it was in January. Dead in the water
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) September 6, 2013
At 169,000 jobs a month, it will take 9 yrs and 10 months to return to pre-recession employment levels. See you in 2023
— James Pethokoukis (@JimPethokoukis) September 6, 2013
Regarding the people that keep leaving the workforce, Santelli says the cost of supporting them continues to grow and that we can’t keep hiding them forever:
“And you can’t play this three card monte game for long. And to see the stock market rally on crappy data to me is just a horrible dynamic. What are we, a banana republic?“
Watch the whole clip:
(h/t: TWS)