Unemployment

Why the U6 Underemployment Rate Is Misunderstood

Bob Johnson of Morningstar comments on the ‘other’ BLS unemployment number: the more comprehensive U6 Unemployment Rate. Johnson suggests that the U6 number is nowhere near the level it would have reached during the Great Depression. The figure is hard to use as a metric having only bee

Unemployment Is the Most Important Challenge for the U.S

From the start of the economic and financial crisis that began in 2007, I made it clear that this was not a garden variety recession. Instead, I said, it was the aftermath of the bursting of the largest real estate bubble the world had ever seen. Many developments of the past three years support my

Birth and Death in Non Farm Payrolls

The Non Farm Payrolls (NFP) is the most influential American economic statistic. In tracking the formation and destruction of employment in the United States the NFP provides a reliable view of the future course of the economy. If the United States cannot generate jobs to replace the more than seven

The Many Faces of Unemployment

Last Friday we got word that the employment picture in the U.S. improved substantially over the month of November. According to the Labor Department, the nation shed 11,000 jobs, a mere fraction of the 130,000 economists were expecting. The news came as a shock to many. In fact, president Obama repo

A Conversation with John

This week I am in New York, and have a whirlwind of meetings (and I admit, a lot of fun on the side) and not much time to write. I have been saving today’s letter for a month or so, for a time such as this. Damien Hoffman of the Wall Street Cheat Sheet interviewed me and posted the transcript