Item: According to a report by Quinnipiac University, 73 percent of Americans would prefer Congress to focus on economic growth and unemployment compared to 22 percent who prefer further investigations into the IRS, Department of Justice and the 2012 attack in Benghazi, Libya. [Quinnipiac University, 5/30/13)
Table A-15, published monthly by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and commonly referred to as "the unemployment numbers" shows an increase in unemployment in May, even though there's more hiring going on. It's because people who had stopped looking started seeking work again.
However, "official" unemployment, U-3, on the chart, is stuck at 7.6%, which in a work force of 155 million, translates to nearly 12 million people out of work.
A better measure of misery is the U-6 un- and under-employment figure, which tracks the numbers of unemployed, plus the unemployed no longer looking for work, plus the number who want to work full time but are stuck in part-time jobs. That number is 13.8%, which is over 21 million people, in a work force of 155 million and a population slightly over 300 milliion.
Our national news media have chosen from the beginning not to cover this human disaster. They're looking for stuff that's either sensational or upbeat, and the story of life as an unemployed prole in an industrial society at the end of the industrial age is sordid and depressing. They did a little better reporting it for a few months after #Occupy petered out, but then came leakapalooza and the chronic suffering of millions of us dropped out of the news entirely.
For the sake of our fellow citizens and poor suffering bastards like ourselves, we need to blow a big whistle on this.
2 comments:
It's interesting how even as the bread supply is gradually dropping, the media is able to keep people focused on circuses.
Even the unemployed can escape with "Idol" if they can still afford the cable hookup.
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