US Jobs Mess; Great Asian Miracle

Money and Markets
by Martin D. Weiss, Ph.D. 01-11-10

After poring over news and charts this weekend, I must say that, even though this is precisely what we’ve been forecasting for many months, I’m still in a state of amazement.

Never before in my lifetime have I seen a greater gap between the U.S. economy, bogged down in massive, chronic unemployment … and major Asian nations, gaining equally massive momentum!

Result: Williams estimates that official unemployment is actually closer to 10.2 percent (instead of the 10 percent reported).

Moreover …

The government also publishes a broader measure of unemployment, which has now risen to the Depression-era level of 17.3 percent. This includes discouraged workers who have given up looking for a job for up to a year, plus part-time workers seeking full-time employment.

If you include ALL workers who have given up looking for a job (as the government used to before the Clinton administration changed the definition), Williams estimates that the TRUE, all-inclusive unemployment rate is now close to 21.9 percent!

And most shocking of all, we are suffering this chronic high unemployment despite the greatest government stimulus of all time. FULL STORY