In the wake of today’s Labor Department numbers, the Senate Republican Policy Committee said the real unemployment rate is not 7.7 percent, but 14.4 percent for November.
The “real” number of unemployed Americans is 22.7 million, Sen. John Barrasso’s (R-Wyo.) committee said in a release. “These are people who are unemployed (12.0 million), want work but have stopped searching for a job (2.5 million), or are working part time because they can’t find full time employment (8.2 million).”
“The difference from when President Obama took office is 475,000 more Americans unemployed or underemployed,” the committee continued.
“The labor force participation rate is 63.6 percent, a decline of 0.2 percentage points or 350,000 people. If the labor force participation rate were the same as when the President took office, the unemployment rate would be 10.7 percent. …The number of Americans searching for work for more than 27 weeks is 4.8 million, a decrease of 200,000 from October. The average number of weeks a worker is unemployed is 40.0 weeks — double from when President Obama took office.”
Still, Democrats in the upper chamber declared the report to be positive news.
“There is no doubt our economy is moving in the right direction,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). “The only question is whether Republicans will jeopardize the progress made so far by forcing a $2,200 tax hike on middle class families, or initiating another destructive fight over the debt ceiling.”
“Despite the critics and naysayers who want to say otherwise, today’s announcement that the US economy has added 146,000 jobs and unemployment fell to 7.7% is yet another positive sign of economic growth,” said Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska). “This is great news for Alaska families just before the holidays. I also hope this serves as a reminder to those who are playing politics with the middle class tax cuts of just how far we have come and why can’t turn back now. We must keep moving forward.”
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