Your Monday Morning Dose of Doom and Gloom

Prosperity is just around the corner! Unfortunately, it seems the corner is a very long ways down the street. By Gallup’s measure (slightly better than the official BLS numbers) unemployment crept up to 8.9% in mid-July, up from 8.7% last month. BLS’s numbers pegged the June rate at 9.2%.

However, Gallup has underemployment at 18.3% — more than two points higher than the official rate.

There’s a lot of guesswork and seasonal adjustments and other such BS behind all these figures, so there’s no telling who’s closer to reality. But it’s crystal clear that the situation is terrible and it’s becoming clear that the terrible situation is getting worse instead of better.

Hat tip: Ed Morrissey, who concludes that the world is “bracing for another recession.”