I regularly receive unemployment data fom the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Nothing out of the ordinary occurred during the 80s. Uneployment rose about
2% in the early 80s, an then dropped back 2% in the miid 80s. Seen in the
1975 to 1997 framework, no change in reckoning is apparent. Don't forget
that unemployment is as much the result of participation rates as jobs.
A much more significant figure is the percentage of working age adults who
have jobs. This figure is not generally reported. There is a name for
it--"employment population ratios." Looking at 1960 to 1996, this figure has
held fairly steady for both sexes. Within these figures males have dropped,
females have risen. This may have resulted in males claiming that the
numbers have been falsified.
>This may have already been discussed to death on this list, but if not,
>I wonder if anyone knows the facts of the history of how "unemployment"
>is reckoned in the US.
>
>I seem to recollect that there was a major re-reckoning in the early 80s
>which resulted in a substantial reduction in the numbers of people
>officially classified as "unemployed" in the US.
>
>Anyone got the facts on this?
Alan Scharf, Futurist and President
Scharf and Associates Creative Leap International
1137 Elliott Street, Saskatoon, SK. Canada S7N 0V4
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: 306/244-4164 Fax: 306/652-0633
