July 15, 2010
The Unanswered Question
Take a look at this headline from Twin Cities Business:
MN June Unemployment Rate Drops, Sheds 3,700 Jobs
Jobs are lost and the unemployment rate decreases…how can this be? It is a question that begs an answer, yet you won’t find it in this article. The closest it comes:
Minnesota’s unemployment rate dropped 0.2 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted 6.8 percent even though employers cut 3,700 jobs during the month, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) said on Thursday.
Clearly workers had to leave the workforce or unemployment benefits expired for many Minnesotans. It is probably a combination of both factors. This is a critical flaw in the unemployment number. The better approach here would be to track how many people are actually working.
