While the June jobs report was heralded as a victory for “Bidenomics,” a disquieting revelation hides behind the curtain of cheerful rhetoric: over five million jobless Americans went uncounted in the official 3.6 percent unemployment rate. The Bureau of Labor Statistics report notes, “The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was 5.4 million in June, unchanged from the prior month.”
These overlooked individuals were excluded from the official count because they either were not actively seeking employment during the four weeks preceding the survey, or they were unavailable to take a job. It appears that the criterion for “unemployed” – making “specific active efforts to find employment” – may obscure the true magnitude of our joblessness crisis.
The report additionally shines a light on the plight of 1.1 million long-term unemployed individuals – those jobless for 27 weeks or longer. These individuals represent a concerning 18.5 percent of the total unemployed population.
Meanwhile, the country faces a rising tide of underemployment. The report cites an increase of 452,000 part-time workers, leading to a total of 4.2 million in June. These workers, forced into part-time roles due to reduced hours or an inability to secure full-time employment, reflect the harsh reality of a struggling labor market.
The labor force participation rate, the percentage of the population that is either working or actively looking for work, remains at a sluggish 62.6 percent. As noted by the Federal Reserve, this figure is still below pre-pandemic, Trump-era levels.
Interestingly, while many Americans grapple with joblessness or underemployment, one sector continues to balloon – the government. June saw an increase of 60,000 government jobs, adding to the already robust average of 63,000 jobs added per month this year.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) does not project significantly better circumstances in the near future. They anticipate GDP growth to slow to a crawl – a mere 0.4 percent annual rate – in the latter half of 2023. Unemployment is projected to rise to 4.7 percent by the end of 2024 before making a slight retreat to 4.5 percent by the end of 2025.
The CBO anticipates that the monthly average of added jobs will tumble from 298,000 in the first half of 2023 to a mere 111,000 in the second half. Their projections foresee a rise in unemployed individuals from 5.9 million to 7.8 million by the fourth quarter of 2024.
These figures serve as a stark reminder of the reality behind the unemployment rate. While we should celebrate genuine progress, let’s also keep in mind the millions unaccounted for and dedicate ourselves to policies that truly address the breadth of America’s employment challenges. It’s not about partisan politics; it’s about the American people’s well-being.
