An unemployment rate above 8% is no longer news – it’s been above 8% for 41 months, which is the longest streak since the Great Depression.
However, during the Clinton Administration the federal government narrowed the definition of unemployment. Add back in those who have given up looking for work or who are underemployed in temporary or part-time jobs and the unemployment rate becomes 14.9%.
That’s not as bad as Spain, Greece or Italy. But it’s certainly not good news.
Yet President Obama called it “a step in the right direction.”
It’s true that the economy added about 90,000 jobs in June, up from just 77,000 new jobs in May, but the U.S. labor force grew by 189,000 people, or twice the number of jobs created. Overall, the official unemployment rate remained unchanged at 8.2%.
Job creation at this rate is a “step in the right direction,” only if your intent is to step off of a cliff.