Unemployment Rate DROPS in July

[BlueDemKev]

Economy added 117,000 new jobs (non-farming) in July, contrary to many predictions of dismal numbers for the month (per CNN).

Unemployment rate falls one-tenth of a percent, (to 9.1%).

[ejpoeta]

1. once people no longer are collecting unemployment not because they have found a job but just because

it ran out do they count towards unemployment numbers still or do they magically disappear from the numbers?

[pinqy]

3. The survey used for the Unemployment data...

...does not even ask about benefits. If you're not working but looking for work, you're unemployed. Doesn't matter how long or if you've ever received benefits or ever even worked.

[ejpoeta]

5. ok thanks.

[Yo_Mama]

2. Yeah, well, the employment report actually sucked

Household survey and tax receipts both confirm that employment is still dropping.

The reason the unemployment percentage dropped was that the "not-in-labor-force" rose by 374K in one month.
http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.a.htm

Look at the fundamentals in that table. Participation rate dropped from 64.1 to 63.9% in one month. Employment/population ratio fell from 58.2 to 58.1% in the month. A YEAR AGO IT WAS 58.4%! We're going backwards.

Since MAY we've lost 483K jobs, seasonally adjusted. This is horrible; we're entering another recession, and the establishment numbers don't reflect it because they contain an adjustment (Birth/Death) which is derived from conditions last year.

We are so screwed.

[bayareamike]

4. The report is better than expected

However, as said above, it isn't exactly encouraging considering that 193,000 people dropped out of the labor force. The drop in unemployment is a relatively illusory figure.