A Few Reader Comments Addressed…

I want to address a couple of comments on yesterday’s  post about the US economy NOT being in a recovery. 

First, one from Kevin Hogan and then another from Lisa M.

Kevin Hogan commented on the fact that Unemployment is likely worse than the 9.8% that is being reported.

The higher unemployment number Kevin was referring to is called U-6.  This is the broader measure of unemployment and this is the one that hit 25-30% during the Great Depression. Here are the various versions of unemployment that are used by the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics)…

U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force

U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)  **This is the 9.8% figure***

U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers

U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other marginally attached workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers

U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers  (this is the one that is at 17.0% currently seasonally adjusted)

Here is a link to these Alternative unemployment measures for the past ten years by month.  Thanks for the comment Kevin!

And yesterday Lisa M. stated… “Ok, so now that I am sufficiently depressed, scared out of my mind, and completely anxious, what next?”

My intent is not to depress anyone, or scare them out of their minds.  It is to make people aware that there are threats that might affect us all that require preparation.  Awareness of threat is the first stage to preparation. 

What next?  Keep reading this blog and I will try hard to answer that question.  A good first step is to start planning to have food and water on hand that would feed your family for at least a month.  We can build from there…

I might make this a regular Sunday thing where I address comments and questions from readers.  I have a lot of questions to answer already and I will be getting to them all in the months ahead.  This is a serious and complicated topic– preparation for survival.   I am learning along with you on some of these topics. 

Glad to have you reading and commenting…