[mburbank]

Vinth. Unemployment statistics are not compiled by a 'survey dude' calling people up. They are compiled by people filing for unemployment insurance. That's how all the statistics you posted were compiled.

Here's another group of people who aren't counted in unemployment numbers. People who's unemployment benefits have run out. It's a pretty dumb way to compile statistics, but I guess it's better than using a survey dude.

You understand what this means, right? That the people in the worst trouble as far as jobs go, people who've been unemployed for over a year, are not counted as being unemployed. You knew that, right?

And you also knew that the biggest job losses in the last several years are in manufacturing, and that most of them paid eleven dollars an hour or more? And I'm sure you know that the Bush administration is currently woking to change the deffinition of manufacturing jobs to include fast food workers, because people are making burgers and tacos on an assembly line, so it's kind of like making automobiles, and also coincidentally, it would make manufacturing job losses vanish?

Because if you didn't know all of those things, the numbers you posted would be just... well, numbers. If you don't factor in people who's unemployment has run out and if you don't take a look at people who've replaced jobs with health insurance and good salaries with jobs with no insurance and minimum wage, then those numbers mean... nothing. So I'm sure you knew all that stuff.