The Real Unemployment Figures Are Unknown

The 180,000 jobs created in March look great on paper. The increase in jobless claims in early April does not. Where are the facts about unemployment? It depends on who you ask. The statistics are not the whole picture.

The unemployment numbers only count the people who have filed for unemployment benefits. Not even all of them are counted. When they have reached the end of the time they were eligible, they are set adrift in the sea of job-hunters, where there are more fishers than fish. They are still looking for jobs. So are the ones who decided, perhaps incorrectly, that the time they would spend between jobs would be short, so they wouldn't file for unemployment.

Young people who are looking for first jobs are not counted either. They haven't worked yet, except maybe doing such things as mowing lawns or babysitting. They might have just finished school. You can't lose what you never had. They still need jobs, though. There are still bills to pay.

People who take a few years off to raise a family or to go back to school are not included either. They are putting just as much effort into searching for jobs as anyone else. They might have student loans or other loans to pay, and the possibility of extending their time off is not always a pleasant one to consider.

Retirees who decide, for whatever reason, that it would be best to go back to work, are not counted. They have worked for years, acquiring and perfecting skills they would like to use again. Some job placement programs for people over 50 exist, but there is still ageism in the hiring field.

Perhaps the largest number of people affected by unemployment, though no studies seem to have been done to prove this, is the ones who are working at jobs that are part-time or low-paying, or both. They are the underemployed. Some are men and women who have earned college degrees and have held positions of authority in companies that have since folded. They are working at part-time jobs they could have done just as well when they were in middle school.

When 180,000 jobs are created, are they all full-time with benefits? This is not at all likely. How many jobs do people need to live comfortably? Would one full-time and two part-time jobs with companies that could go under at any time be enough for one person? Why are two-income families living in poverty? When the unemployment rate is 4.4 per cent, how many people are looking for jobs?