I’ve seen others noting the “discouraged workers” meme from the early Bush years.

Yes, the unemployment rate is the number of people seeking work divided by the total active workforce (employed + unemployed but seeking).

Both factors can change. The discouraged workers are the ones who have given up on seeking work. Their number has got to be a SWAG and so very easy to politically manipulate up or down.

The BLS says their numbers have increased to 2.1 million:

http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/ils74abs.htm

Thank goodness that I can support my family, come what may, by working on Chinese nukes.