Bogus Chicago-area Jobless Rate Dips

Lies… Damn Lies… and Statistics:

The February unemployment rate in the Chicago area dropped to 8.9 percent from 9.6 percent a year ago, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security.

The Chicago area, which includes Joliet and Naperville added roughly 38,100 jobs  to the payrolls, according to the data, which was not seasonally adjusted.  …

The unemployment rate identifies individuals who are out of work but looking for work.

via Chicago Tribune.

What was that last line again?  Oh ya, the unemployment rate identifies individuals who are out of work but looking for work.  And it’s missing one very important fact, it also ONLY includes people who HAVE WORKED.  Recent grads are not eligible for unemployment, so they don’t count.

The “Chicago Area” as they call it consists of over 9.4 million people. Contrary to the facts of the story, there were no, zero, zilch job added to payrolls in February.  What really happened is that 38,000 or so folks removed themselves from the job market.

0.40% of the folks simply gave up looking for work OR have been on employment for so long that the benefits simply ran out.

If one took into account age, time on unemployment, underemployment and other factors we’d see that the real unemployment rate is far, FAR, higher.