He cannot; BLS figures show no net change in people who gave up looking for work. - Edit 1
Before modification by Joel at 06/10/2012 04:30:11 PM
See below link. In this case, we want table A-15 U-3 "Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)" and A-15 U-4 "Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers."
"Discouraged workers"=unemployed people who quit looking for work. They are not counted in the "official" unemployment number (A-15, U-3) but are ADDED to that figure in A-15, U-4; subtract the former from the latter and you get "discouraged workers," which was 0.5% last month and still is.
You can also review the official BLS press release here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm
We know the numbers are good news, because so many conservatives accuse the BLS of faking them. The best take I heard on that was from Wonkette: Yeah, Obama had the BLS say unemployment was >8% the last THREE STRAIGHT YEARS just so he could have them say it dropped to 7.8% a month before the election and win.
Personally, if I were going to fake a number I would 1) do it for more than a single month and 2) choose one that made me look stellar rather than slightly above average. Which also applies to poll numbers and every other stat the GOP says Obama faked.
"Discouraged workers"=unemployed people who quit looking for work. They are not counted in the "official" unemployment number (A-15, U-3) but are ADDED to that figure in A-15, U-4; subtract the former from the latter and you get "discouraged workers," which was 0.5% last month and still is.
You can also review the official BLS press release here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.htm
We know the numbers are good news, because so many conservatives accuse the BLS of faking them. The best take I heard on that was from Wonkette: Yeah, Obama had the BLS say unemployment was >8% the last THREE STRAIGHT YEARS just so he could have them say it dropped to 7.8% a month before the election and win.
Personally, if I were going to fake a number I would 1) do it for more than a single month and 2) choose one that made me look stellar rather than slightly above average. Which also applies to poll numbers and every other stat the GOP says Obama faked.