Nearly 40% of Americans Unemployed

Peter Goodman writes...

The unemployment rate does not count people who have given up looking for work. Over all, the percentage of working age Americans employed dropped to 62.6 percent in May from 63 percent a year earlier.

That means nearly 40% are unemployed. Even if one argues that 10% of these unemployed people are unemployable, due to health or other legitimate reasons, the real unemployment figure in the US is closer to 30% not 5% as we are lead to believe.

Goodman's Article is worth reading. It's an example of the establishment media acknowledging a distinction between the Main Street economy and the Wall Street economy.

It also exposes John McCain's superficial and misleading inference that Obama's economic policies represent a return to "the past that advocate higher taxes.." implying this would apply to typical "... families at this critical time..." Goodman lets Obama clarify in his own words that the Obama tax policy would help typical families because, “We can’t afford John McCain’s plan to spend billions of dollars on tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy C.E.O.’s.”

Sources:

New York Times, Job Losses and Surge in Oil Spread Gloom on Economy, Peter S. Goodman, June 7, 2008.