Economist Morici: “7.8% Jobless Rate, Not a Real Decline in Unemployment”

Economist Peter Morici spoke with Moneynews about the strange 7.8% unemployment rate for September 2012. Highlights of what Morici said: ● The U.S. employment rate dropped to 7.8% in September thanks largely to gains in part-time workers and not due to improvements in the labor market. ● Total employment rose by 873,000 in September due mostly to an increase in part-time work. Some 582,000 Americans took part-time positions because of slack business conditions or those jobs were the only work they could find. ● Jobs are being created at the pace that the population grows. We’re not really getting a real decline in unemployment. ● When the recovery began, the unemployment rate was 10%. With the September numbers, if the adult participation was where it was then, we’d be at 9.7-9.8% unemployment.