@rbreich Which definition of "unemployment"? There are six in common usage, and politicians wanting to make their numbers look good always seem to cite the most useless one.
@rbreich You of all people must be aware of the adjustments that are made to the released figures. The number of "new jobs" has been revised downward 12 of 13 times according to a study done just last year.
@rbreich The first thing #RonaldReagan did when he became president was to change the way unemployment was calculated by including all members of the military as employed, something that had never been done before. His unemployment numbers were actually higher compared to prior presidents.
@rbreich Trump rebranded 13.3% unemployment as a positive - and nearly won. He just charged through the controversy, insisted things were great, and it almost worked. What I need to understand is why Joe refuses to discuss an amazing economy in the same kind of glowing terms - ones that are deserved. Why do they get to call 13.3% unemployment "stupendous" and we have to call an economy at 4% "very good but with a long way to go"?
@rbreichAnother viral toot comparing the current unemployment rate to the anomalous rate at the peak of pandemic lockdowns?
Trump’s unemployment rate was otherwise comparable to Biden’s. Surely an informed electorate is better than one filled the a different set of lies and half-truths than the opposition.
What happens when someone tries this argument against their Trumper uncle, and they go to Google to find out the truth?
Silly to compare today to 4 years ago, a lot of us are going to see through this and realize it's a COVID year. Trump sucks enough on his own without inventing things.
The unemployment rate alone explains nothing.
A low unemployment rate may well be accompanied by a strong withdrawal of workers from the regulated market if conditions there are too poor, to the benefit of the informal sector.
It may also conceal a declining population or a sharp increase in work incapacity.