Paul Krugman has column in the New York Times today about the President’s skewing of the UnEmployment situation.
Here’s an excerpt.
We don’t know why so many people have stopped looking for jobs, but it probably has something to do with the fact that jobs are so hard to find: 40 percent of the unemployed have been out of work more than 15 weeks, a 20-year record. In any case, the administration should feel grateful that so many people have dropped out. As the Economic Policy Institute points out, if they hadn’t dropped out, the official unemployment rate would be an eye-popping 7.4 percent, not a politically spinnable 5.6 percent.
In short, things aren’t as bad as they seem; they’re worse. But should we blame the Bush administration? Yes — because it refuses to learn from experience.
Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain.