I know it seems like I pick on Bill from time to time, but by all accounts he appears to be another lemming of the establishment only able to drip out the contents of a manipulated report issued by a fraudulent Uncle Sam. Yesterday Bill alerted us that the unicorns and unemployment rate in St Croix County was a cozy 3.8% and the lowest in the state for a 6th consecutive month. While a six month streak is probably true what is missing is any mention of the real rate of unemployment in either the county, state, or nation. In short, either he doesn't know the difference between nominal and real unemployment, or is too busy handing out tax payer money to challenge the lies within the system and report to you the truth.
I'm still split on the answer.
According to Tyler Durder of ZeroHedge, the actual national unemployment rate in America is not the new low reported just today (and surely to be parroted by the all the WEDC bank branches tomorrow), of an improving 7%, down from 7.3%, but 11.5%. Durden explains this as such:
"While it may appear at first glance that the first chart below (Above) shows just one data series, what we have shown are two data sets: one presents, on an inverted axis, the Civilian Employment-to-Population rate, which unlike the unemployment rate as a fraction of the labor force (most recently printing at just 7%), has barely budged since the Lehman collapse. The other data set shows what an implied unemployment rate as calculated by Zero Hedge would be assuming a long-term average of 65.8% worker labor participation rate.
As we reported earlier, according to the BLS this number most recently was 63.0%: a 20 bps (.2%) rebound from the 35 year low posted in October, but still woefully wrong. The chart shows much more accurately what the real unemployment rate would be when looking at the overall noninstitutional population instead of the ever rising amount of Americans who for one reason or another are not in the labor force."
There are many reasons the numbers are skewed but one reason for this was explained earlier this week by Durden;
"But more importantly, the number of people not in the labor force exploded by nearly 1 million, or 932,000 to be exact, in just the month of October, to a record 91.5 million Americans! This was the third highest monthly increase in people falling out of the labor force in US history."
While the distribution of these drop-outs is not necessarily equal amongst the 50 states the immutable fact is, people have given up. This number itself is even likely low as the number of 18-24 year olds who have never held a job greeting you in a blue smock is likely over 50% in the US. In a moment of honesty the Hudson high school principal even acknowledge the youth unemployment problems in a meeting held yesterday.
I pick on Bill because he is the face of the Non-Profit government bank chaired by Scott Walker and is passing off the agency as a hub of economic stimulus and understanding. In reality it is an example of how government intervention and mis-direction cause our population to believe everything is roses and pixie dust rather than digging in and thinking for himself. But then again thinking for himself is something government probably doesn't pay him to do. Mostly they pay him to show private businesses how to get the most out of government.
So tell us non-profit kind-of-employed-by-government-but-not-really Bill Rubin, what in your professional estimation is the real unemployment rate in St Croix County and the state? How bad is our youth unemployment problem? Even a cursory shot would add to your credibility.