Unemployment Rate
There has been a concerted effort on behalf of Republicans and Democrats to create the illusion of "low unemployment". This usually works in a good economy since few people pay any attention to it during good times.
But with the economy in bad shape now in its second decade over the Bush years (Republican) and Obama years (Democrat), people are rightly skeptical when the government says unemployment is in the single digits. Unemployment has dropped because people have stopped looking for work because there are no jobs as a direct result of the administration's economic policies.
LISEP has been tracking unemployment in the U.S. for decades at LISEP and has become an expert in government economic reporting. The quality of government reporting has deteriorated sharply in the last couple of decades. A lot of that is on purpose by the administration in power.
Much of the tinkering with the unemployment rate numbers began in the Clinton administration, and continues with subsequent administrations today. Here is the modeled difference between the BLS U-3, U-6, and LISEP unemployment rates.
During the Bush and Obama years, the U.S. has
been in the Great Depression range of unemployment
numbers as shown here.
Unemployment Scorecard:
|
Month / Year
|
BLS U-3 |
LISEP |
Not In Labor Force |
Labor Force Participation Rate |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
October-2024
|
4.1%
|
23.9%
|
100,809,000
|
62.6%
|
|
|
September-2024
|
4.1%
|
23.9%
|
100,381,000
|
62.7%
|
|
|
August-2024
|
4.2%
|
24.4%
|
100,306,000
|
62.7%
|
|
|
July-2024
|
4.3%
|
24.6%
|
100,215,000
|
62.7%
|
|
|
June-2024
|
4.1%
|
24.6%
|
100,249,000
|
62.6%
|
|
|
May-2024
|
4.0%
|
24.7%
|
100,516,000
|
62.5%
|
|
|
April-2024
|
3.9%
|
24.2%
|
100,083,000
|
62.7%
|
|
|
March-2024
|
3.8%
|
24.2%
|
99,989,000
|
62.7%
|
|
|
February-2024
|
3.9%
|
24.9%
|
100,285,000
|
62.5%
|
|
|
January-2024
|
3.7%
|
23.3%
|
100,265,000
|
62.5%
|
|
|
December-2023
|
3.7%
|
22.9%
|
100,540,000
|
62.5%
|
|
|
November-2023
|
3.7%
|
22.7%
|
99,562,000
|
62.8%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
Previous Years
|
|
|
|
|
|
| January-2024 | 3.7% | 23.3% | 100,265,000 | 62.5% | |
|
January-2023
|
3.4%
|
23.1%
|
100,130,000
|
62.4%
|
|
|
January-2022
|
4.0%
|
22.5%
|
99,516,000
|
62.2%
|
|
|
January-2021
|
6.3%
|
26.0%
|
100,690,000
|
61.4%
|
|
|
January-2020
|
3.6%
|
24.1%
|
94,896,000
|
63.4%
|
|
|
January-2019
|
4.0%
|
24.1%
|
95,010,000
|
63.2%
|
|
|
January-2018
|
4.1%
|
25.1%
|
95,665,000
|
62.7%
|
|
|
January-2017
|
4.8%
|
26.2%
|
94,366,000
|
62.9%
|
|
|
January-2016
|
4.9%
|
27.1%
|
94,062,000
|
62.7%
|
|
|
January-2015
|
5.7%
|
28.5%
|
92,544,000
|
62.9%
|
|
|
January-2014
|
6.6%
|
30.1%
|
91,429,000
|
62.9%
|
|
|
January-2013
|
7.9%
|
31.4%
|
88,838,000
|
63.6%
|
|
|
January-2012
|
8.8%
|
31.5%
|
87,824,000
|
63.7%
|
|
|
January-2011
|
9.1%
|
32.3%
|
85,390,000
|
64.2%
|
|
|
January-2010
|
9.8%
|
33.2%
|
83,349,000
|
64.8%
|
|
|
January-2009
|
8.3%
|
30.3%
|
80,374,000
|
65.8%
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Presidential Scorecard©:
| PRESIDENT | YEARS |
JOBS
LOST |
NET
JOBS |
AVERAGE LABOR PARTICIPATION RATE | NOT
IN LABOR FORCE AT END OF TERM |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRUMAN | 1949 - 1952 |
8,357,000
|
-3,222,000
|
5,135,000
|
4.4%
|
||
| EISENHOWER | 1953 - 1960 |
10,142,000
|
-6,562,000
|
3,580,000
|
4.9%
|
||
| KENNEDY / JOHNSON | 1960 - 1964 |
6,067,000
|
-390,000
|
5,677,000
|
5.8%
|
||
| JOHNSON | 1965 - 1968 |
9,983,000
|
-158,000
|
9,825,000
|
3.9%
|
||
| NIXON | 1969 - 1972 |
7,404,000
|
-1,380,000
|
6,024,000
|
5.0%
|
||
| NIXON / FORD | 1973 - 1976 |
7,473,000
|
-2,295,000
|
5,178,000
|
6.7%
|
||
| CARTER | 1977 - 1980 |
11,714,000
|
-1,219,000
|
10,495,000
|
6.5%
|
63.2%
|
61,531,000
|
| REAGAN | 1981 - 1988 |
19,273,000
|
-3,310,000
|
15,963,000
|
7.5%
|
64.7%
|
62,780,000
|
| G.H.W. BUSH | 1989 - 1992 |
4,372,000
|
-1,782,000
|
2,590,000
|
6.3%
|
66.4%
|
65,780,000
|
| CLINTON | 1993 - 2000 |
23,420,000
|
-185,000
|
23,235,000
|
5.2%
|
66.8%
|
70,488,000
|
| G.W. BUSH | 2001 - 2008 |
8,702,000
|
-6,589,000
|
2,113,000
|
5.3%
|
66.2%
|
80,380,000
|
| OBAMA | 2009 - 2015 (so far) |
13,730,000
|
-5,428,000
|
8,302,000
|
7.8%
|
63.8%
|
94,103,000
|
Note: data through Dec-2015 |
|||||||
Resources:
Real
Jobs Numbers Are Far Worse Than Official Numbers Suggest"
(unemployment rate of 31% with 47.9 million Americans unemployed out
of a workforce of 154 million people)
Unemployment Report Shows Labor Force Drop Outs At Record High (93.175 Million People)
Americans Not In Labor Force Soars To Record 93.2 Million As Participation Rate Drops To 1978 Levels
Another 640,000 Drop Out of Labor Force Causing Unemployment Rate Decline
The Presidential Scorecard©: Truman to Obama
A Critical Eye on Obama's Jobs and Unemployment Record
The Presidential Scorecard©: GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and Total Employment
The Presidential Scorecard©: Job Creation, Unemployment, Not in Labor Force, GDP
How Many Jobs Are Needed To Keep Up With Population Growth?
Atlanta Fed's Interactive Jobs Calculator For Number of Monthly Jobs Needed For Population Growth
U.S. Census Bureau Population Clock