Are the unemployment numbers reported by the BLS manipulated on purpose? Or did 4 percent of the working population just decide not to work anymore?

There is a saying that one can pick numbers to make any case.  I suspected that this has been happening with the unemployment numbers reported by the US government for some time.  It seems to me like reports played with the labor participation rate to show better than expected unemployment numbers.  So I decided to research the numbers myself and see what came up.  

First I looked at the graph for unemployment reported by the government.  This takes into account employment participation that can be subjective and subject to manipulation in reporting.
The numbers show that the unemployment is almost back to 2008 levels.   It would mean a dramatic improvement in the economy from 2010.

National Unemployment as reported 2/7/2015 - <--Link to BLS site 

Data extracted on: February 7, 2015 (12:29:02 PM)

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Series Id:           LNS14000000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title:        (Seas) Unemployment Rate
Labor force status:  Unemployment rate
Type of data:        Percent or rate
Age:                 16 years and over

Next I looked at the percentage of people working.  
The stats below show the percent of people working (full or part time) compared to the total population,  When we look at this chart, we see that the amount of people actually working is still
very far away from 2008 working percentage numbers. 

Percent of Population Working Report 2/7/2015  <--Link to BLS site 

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Series Id:           LNS12300000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title:        (Seas) Employment-Population Ratio
Labor force status:  Employment-population ratio
Type of data:        Percent or rate
Age:                 16 years and over

So how can this be?  Below is the labor participation rate.   Remember, this is the number that can be "subjective" and subject to interpretation.  The BLS reports that there are about 4 percent less people working or looking for work in 2015 than in 2008.  So if you have less people looking for work, the unemployment numbers reported are lower eventhough there are less people working in terms of percentage.  

Labor participation rate: People who are working or looking for work  <--Link to BLS site 

Data extracted on: February 7, 2015 (12:42:03 PM)

Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey

Series Id:           LNS11300000
Seasonally Adjusted
Series title:        (Seas) Labor Force Participation Rate
Labor force status:  Civilian labor force participation rate
Type of data:        Percent or rate
Age:                 16 years and over

Coincidentally, the reduction in percent of population that is currently employed is also about 4 percent lower.  This begs the question, 

"Are the unemployment numbers reported by the BLS manipulated on purpose? Or did 4 percent of the working population just decide not to work anymore?"   The chart shows the participation rate begins to decline in late 2008 and steeper in 2009.    An unemployment is actually higher than reported.  

But some good news...

The US economy is improving but very slowly.  Much slower than is being reported by the BLS  unemployment numbers that are being published.   According to the second chart only recently have we have begun to actually add significant numbers of jobs to indicate more people working as a percent of the population.  

The Affordable Care Act: The Great Obama Lie!

For those that say that THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT is the law of the land, approved by both houses, the Supreme Court  and we should move on from here.  I would like to remind you of the lies that helped get it passed and continue to this day.


1) "It is not a tax."  Lie! The Supreme Court upheld the insurance mandate as a tax that fell under the taxing power of the government.
2)It will cover the all uninsured.   Lie! We now know that millions will remain uninsured.
3) "Everyone will save money."   Lie!  We now know that costs will go up because of additional coverage mandated by the law.  

4)"You can keep the coverage you currently have."  Lie!  We now know that insurance companies have to change coverage and prices due to items mandated by the law.  Many Americans are losing their coverage.
5) "Congress will have the same insurance."  Lie!  We now know that Congress voted additional subsidies for government employees in direct violation of the terms of the law.  In a similar action, the president unilaterally granted waivers to some businesses.
6) "Finally, you can keep your doctor."  Lie!  We now know that many doctors are dropping patients.


Remember the OBAMA DON'T CARE ACT in 2014...

Revised-  10/30/2013

7) It will cost $940 Billion.   Lie!  CBO now estimates that costs will rise to
$ 1.76 trillion almost double the costs.

8) The web site is ready to go! LIE! You get the picture... (taken 10/30/2013)

 Health Insurance is not Health Care!

Debunking the Propagandized debunking of "15 Myths The Media Should Ignore During Obamacare Implementation."

I took a few minutes to research and comment on "15 Myths The Media Should Ignore During Obamacare Implementation".
Found at
http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/10/01/15-myths-the-media-should-ignore-during-obamaca/196181

Some are technically myths and some are not myths. Debunking the propagandized debunking of myths is a little tricky but it was so easy to find facts online that I said, "what the heck." The Affordable Care Act is very complex by design so we have argument on nuances ad infinitum. I tried to stick to the main points.

Myth #1: Congress Is "Exempt" From The Affordable Care Act
Your analysis is correct. Congress is not exempt however there is an exception.
“Other Americans who get health insurance through their jobs can’t take their employer insurance contributions and apply them directly to new individual plans purchased through the exchanges.-Kate Pickert -http://swampland.time.com/2013...
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013...

Myth #2: Premium Prices Will Increase Due To Health Care Law- Sorry, “lower than expected” has nothing to do with the actual numbers. This is not a myth. Premiums went up! You are explaining why it's okay they went up. This does not change the fact that they went up.

Myth #3: The Affordable Care Act Includes Death Panels- The text of the law explicitly states this but we recently had a situation where a young lady needed a lung transplant. Kathleen Sebelius eventually intervene to change the rules over who got a lung transplant. This isn't a panel but a “Death Czar.”
The IPAB can affect the amount of money paid to doctors for specific treatments
and create a rationing effect in that way. The result will be the same, patients will not be able to get the care they need according to their doctors and it will be the government restricting access to that care.

Myth #4: Shutting Down Government Over Obamacare Funding Will Stop Health Care Law
Correct. But it might affect the Democrat's willingness to pass changes that have so far been resisted.

Myth #5: The Affordable Care Act Is "Socialized Medicine" And A "Government Takeover" Of Health Care
Correct. However, Obama care is the first step towards socialized medicine and a government takeover of health care.
The President and Harry Reid are on the record saying that they want to walk this to a single payer system which would definitely be socialized medicine. source is video from: http://youtu.be/926bPZiQhgY & http://youtu.be/SXgSKwYMnWo.
This answers the question is why affect 300 million people's health care when you are effectively covering an additional 10% of the population. A capitalist approach would probably more effective ways of achieving this
without a wholesale one party revamp the America's health care system. For instance, there could have been a Medicaid expansion, tort reform, allowing insurances to compete across state lines and finally a set tax to fund the Americans that need subsidy. The drive towards socialized medicine is the truly scary part of the affordable care act.

Myth #6: People Will Be Able To Commit Subsidy Fraud On The Exchanges
Wrong! People will always be able to commit fraud. There is not a system that is fool proof.

Myth #7: Obamacare "Narrow Networks" Will Constrain Health Choices-Wrong
Reports from across the country confirm that people are losing their current coverage, spouses are losing their coverages, and retirees are losing their coverages. People have not be able to keep their healthcare provider. As providers move out of
certain regions due the affordable care act, the choices of coverage must become limited by simple math.

Myth #8: The Affordable Care Act Is Bad For Women- This is subjective.
If it's bad for almost everyone, is it bad for women?

Myth #9: The Affordable Care Act Covers Abortions - Wrong again!
“The Office of Personnel Management ruled Monday that members of Congress and their staffs will be able to buy health care plans that pay for abortions, even though the premiums are funded largely by taxpayer money...”

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com...
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Myth #10: The Affordable Care Act Is A Job Killer. Correct. The True myth should read a “Full Time Job Killer”
As the Act comes into effect, many employers are reducing hours to less than 30 to avoid penalties. There are also many small businesses reporting that they will not hire over 50 employees to also avoid penalties. Small businesses are the engines of American jobs, it only make sense that anything that affects their hiring would impact all full time hiring.

Myth #11: With Full Access To Medical Records, The IRS Will Discriminate Against Conservatives This remains to be seen. We now know that the IRS illegally targeted conservative groups applying for tax exempt status what is to prevent another so-called rogue group to target conservatives. They already target them
for audits.

Myth #12: Navigators Will Abuse Private Information-
Navigators will help register more Democrats. Is this abuse of private information?

Myth #13: Obamacare Mandates Doctors To Ask Patients About Sexual History -Don't care. My doctors already asked about my history as part a good screening.

Myth #14: The ACA's Medicaid Expansion Will Force Doctors To Turn Away Patients
See Answers to myth 3 and myth 7

Myth #15: The ACA Is To Blame For A Projected 30 Million People Who Will Remain Uninsured
This was passed without a single GOP vote. You should expect them to try to stop the march towards socialized medicine.