Re: U.S. Unemployment Rate Slides in August


"El Castor" <NotAnyone@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Harry Thompson" <me@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"El Castor" <NotAnyone@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Islander <nospam@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<Snip>

Islander, why do I have the uneasy feeling that as long as a
Republican occupies the White House, no news will be good news? If the
economy grows, the growth isn't redistributed to suit you. If new jobs
are created, you don't like the new jobs that are created. When I
point out that the major European economies of France and Germany
embrace your left wing philosophy and have unemployment of 10% and
growth half that of the US, you say, "Oh, that's not me", "That's not
the way I would do things".

Precisely how do you differ with those Europeans? What is there about
their labor laws, regulations, and taxation that you find troubling?

Answer goes here:

Sigh: Why do I get the feeling that any statistic that can be considered
positive you will joyfully accept so long as Republicans are in control?

Answer goes here:







Why do you believe that French and German unemployment is high and
growth low, in comparison with the United States?


Answer goes here:


French I can't speak about, but German yes.

The German unemployment rate isn't good news, but it isn't as bad as
touted.
1st, Germany counts its unemployment differently. Part time workers who
want
full time work are counted as unemployed, unlike here. Also, we have a
huge
prison population that is excluded from being counted as unemployed.
Germany's prison population is small. If our prisoners were counted as
unemployed, it would raise our figure a bit.

Allowing for differences in counting, German unemployment drops as I
recall
to about 9%.

2nd, German unemployment includes the former East Germany which has (last
I
looked) a 20% unemployment rate due to the former DDR. As Max Sawicky
pointed out, including the Ossi (German slang for East Germany)
unemployment
rate would be like us including the Mexican unemployment rate.

Discounting the former DDR figure brings the German rate down to 7+%.

That is not good, but it is not the disaster touted by our media.

Hap

PS. And finally, speaking personally, and not quoting Sawicky, I don't
believe our unemployment figure. It is a count of people considered in the
work force who are unemployed. But the official "work force" excludes many
many people that it should include. Our vaunted figure IMO is just
statistical legerdemain. Look about you, man.

Hap, the United states, France, and Germany are all members of the
OECD, and as such are required to use standardized methods in the
collection and compilation of unemployment statistics. Here are the
standardized numbers for June 2006, which were reviewed by the OECD
and published on August 4. These numbers are accurate and directly
comparable between member states.

OECD STANDARDISED UNEMPLOYMENT RATES - JUNE 2006:

United States 4.6%
Germany 8.2%
France 8.7%
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/41/13/36884449.pdf

Here are the standardized OECD GDP growth rates for 2005:

United States 3.2%
Germany 1.0%
France 1.2%
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/48/4/33727936.pdf

Please have the grace to admit that if those numbers were reversed you
would be bellowing like a Polar Bear in heat, but since year after
year after year your model European economies remain stuck in the
socialist mud, you just avert your gaze and look for excuses.

You're beating a dead horse. I did say Germany's unemployment rate isn't
good. Last I looked it was 7+. So now it's 8.2.


What's the matter with you Hap? Socialism doesn't work. Your religion
has failed you. Give up with the excuses. High taxes, restrictive
regulation, over the top labor laws, and a financially unsound welfare
state, just don't work.

Now, now, don't get touchy just because I needled you. I'm really not a
socialist. I would categorize myself as an ameliorist capitalist.


.

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