Real Unemployment Rate More Than Double The Official Number, CLSA Finds
By Tyler Durden
While everyone loves to focus on the headline unemployment rate as a reason to say the economy is doing well, especially those at the Fed trying to justify hiking rates into a recession, or those in the current administration trying to establish a legacy of being a market whisperer, the facts get in the way of that narrative.
We continuously remind those who are interested in the truth that the number of Americans who are no longer in the labor force has hit an all time high of 94.7 million. If one were to factor in the low labor force participation rate, the actual unemployment rate would be significantly higher than the 4.7% headline.
According to CLSA economists, who have updated an analysis we first did in the summer of 2010, if the participation rate stayed at the levels before the financial crisis, the unemployment rate would be 9.6%, more than double what it is today.
So the next time you hear that the economy is doing well because of “falling unemployment”, refer them the “fringe” CLSA economists, and whatever you do, don’t tell the Washington Post.
Source: Real Unemployment Rate More Than Double The Official Number, CLSA Finds
