The decline in the April unemployment rate from 8.2 to 8.1 percent is the result of President Obama’s policies which destroy rather than create jobs. In April almost 3 times as many people got discouraged and left the labor force (342,000) as got jobs (115,000), this is nothing to celebrate.
Two factors affect the unemployment rate. First, the number of net new jobs (new jobs minus lost jobs). Second, the workforce size (the number of people working or looking for work). The unemployment rate declines when net new jobs increases, when the workforce shrinks, or both.
Workforce size is important. Under President Obama the workforce has shrunk to its smallest since the 1980s. If the workforce were the same size today as when President Obama was inaugurated, the current unemployment rate would be 11.1 percent.
The 342,000 workers who left the labor force found no replacement for their lost job. These people and their families now wonder how they will survive, can they stay in their home, how to give their children the opportunities they planned, how to provide for their old age, etc.
President Obama’s re-election team celebrates the lower unemployment rate. But, that number hides millions of suffering Americans who cannot find jobs because of President Obama’s policies.
