Face it, the job market is recovering

[Andy823]

Quote:FORTUNE -- It's time to stop the yeah, buts.

Ever since the unemployment rate began falling two and a half years ago, commentators have come up with reasons why the job market is not actually improving. The Labor Department reported that the job market had improved in February, with employers adding 227,000 workers to their payrolls. But that probably won't stop the nay-sayers. Yeah, but what about the shrinking labor force. Yeah, but what about the number of people who can't find full-time jobs. The most recent go-to: The lovely weather.

While is true that the economic and job recovery has been frustratingly slow. It's not true it hasn't indeed arrived. Here's a list of the most common reasons people give as to why the job market it not improving and why they're wrong:

The real unemployment rate: Lots of people like to disparage the unemployment rate. Instead, they say the "real unemployment rate" is something economists call the U-6. Unlike the regular unemployment rate, the U-6 also captures part-time workers who would like to work full-time, as well as those who want a job but have stopped looking in the past year. While the regular unemployment rate peaked at 10%, the U-6 got as high as 17.2%. But the fastest rising portion of the U-6 during the recession was in frustrated part-time workers. There were nearly 9 million of those people at the height of the recession from a low of 3.9 million in 2006. The number of people in the count who stopped looking for work peaked at 2.7 million. That would suggest that the economy and job market are more resilient than it appears, not less. At least many people were able to find some form of work. What's more, in February, the so-called full unemployment rate dropped, to 14.9% from 15.1%, while the regular jobless rate didn't budge. The reason, again, had to do with part-time workers, 1.1 million of which found full-time gigs. Does that mean the economy is actually better than it appears?

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/03/0..._Highlight

More at the link above.

[jaxx]

The Obama Recovery is in effect. It's gaining every month, no thanks to the obstructionists in the congress.

[NJMaverick]

despite the best efforts by the GOP and its supporters who are manipulating gas prices and doing everything in their power to halt our economic progress.