Employers Cut 85,000 Jobs in Dec.; Unemployment Rate Steady at 10%

The truth is slowly dripping out about the real unemployment numbers. Maybe some reader can tell us how someone who has exhausted their benefits and is no longer looking for employment can be removed from the books of the unemployed. They remain totally 'unemployed' yet are no longer counted? Is that known as political math?

The way unemployment figures are portrayed is pretty much of a scam by the Government. Why not report how many are unemployed including those who have exhausted their benefits which would give a true picture? Guess that would be bad for an Administration trying to convince everyone that the economy is rebounding.

We also think the numbers being reported by States are being slanted to look better then they are. At times in states, people applying for benefits cannot even log on or call their system to apply for benefits so the State's numbers go down for the week. A system being down makes a big difference in numbers reported. How many states have intentionally allowed a system to remain down for even a day which would reduce the numbers?

It was reported to us that one state's employment (must not use unemployment) system was down from Friday until Tuesday, but we would bet there are more. Somehow having people file on Saturday and Sunday without anyone being there to answer questions makes you question how a Democrat Governor runs his Administration in Oklahoma. Since he is a big supporter of Obama, are the Oklahoma numbers correct each week/month? Enquiring minds would like to know, but finding the answer is not likely to happen as you get passed from one office to the next when trying to find the answer. The 'best' answer yet was that "we don't have enough people to handle all the calls." Our first thought was 'hire more people' and decrease the unemployment rate of the State, but that is common sense which is basically nonexistent in most State governments.

With the intense cold temps and/or snow covering a large portion of the US, how many more jobs will be lost as retail sales continue to hit bottom after the Christmas holidays? More important is if they will be reported accurately or do we get a rosy report from the Federal government with no basis in fact?

Employers Cut 85,000 Jobs in Dec.; Unemployment Rate Steady at 10%
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Posted 8:41 AM 01/08/10

The economy lost more jobs than expected in December while the unemployment rate held steady at 10 percent, as a sluggish economic recovery has yet to revive hiring among the nation's employers.

The Labor Department said Friday that employers cut 85,000 jobs last month, worse than the 8,000 drop analysts expected.

A sharp drop in the labor force, a sign more of the jobless are giving up on their search for work, kept the unemployment rate at the same rate as in November. Once people stop looking for jobs, they are no longer counted among the unemployed.

When discouraged workers and part-time workers who would prefer full-time jobs are included, the so-called "underemployment" rate in December rose to 17.3 percent, from 17.2 percent in October. That's just below a revised figure of 17.4 percent in October, the highest on records dating from 1994.

Excerpt: Read more at Daily Finance