If the unemployment rate was calculated the way BLS did it in 1994 and earlier, the unemployment and underemployment would be 22.5%

By Greg Hunter's USAWatchdog.com

The most recent unemployment number is a total lie, and that lie was
repeated all over the mainstream media (MSM).  Two sins were committed
here, and I don't know which one is worse.  The report was a sham, and
the MSM reported that information without a single question about its
accuracy.  In a story carried across the MSM spectrum, the Associated Press said, "In
a long-awaited surge of hiring, companies added 243,000 jobs in January
- across the economy, up and down the pay scale and far more than just
about anyone expected. Unemployment fell to 8.3 percent, the lowest in
three years."  The report went on to say, "At the same
time, the proportion of the population working or looking for work is
its lowest in almost three decades. The length and depth of the
recession have discouraged millions of people from looking for jobs. The
better news of the past couple months has not yet encouraged most of
them to start searching again."  (Click here for the complete AP story.) 

Here's a headline for you.  If it were not for accounting gimmicks
and what the government calls "seasonal-adjustments," the unemployment
rate would have gone up, not down!  In his latest report, economist John Williams from Shadowstats.com said, "January's
unadjusted unemployment rate rose to 8.8% . . . The only difference
between those numbers and the headline 243,000 January jobs gain and
8.3% unemployment rate, is how the seasonal adjustments were applied. 
There are serious issues with the current quality of those adjustments,
and extremely small distortions in those seasonals can make big
differences in the resulting headline data."       

As far as "discouraged" workers who are not looking
for a job, that is total rubbish put out by the government.  The real
story is the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) simply has stopped
counting more than 1.2 million of the unemployed in its report Friday.  
Williams goes on to say, "The issues here suggest that the
headline 8.3% unemployment for January has moved well outside the realm
of common experience and credibility, into the arena of election-year
political shenanigans."   Williams is such a gentleman.  
Please take into consideration the government's "official" or "headline"
number is only based on people being out of work for 6 months or less. 
If the unemployment rate was calculated the way BLS did it in 1994 and
earlier, the unemployment and underemployment would be 22.5% (according to Shadowstats.com.) 

Read the rest of the article here.

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