Today on The Janssen Report (#101): as we see the mass media reporting on “major” events such as the looming Greek default (and Grexit…), the reality of the economic numbers in the US is masked. Hardly any critical reporting goes on in the media, so let’s have a look at the April and March employment figures, which are abysmal to say the least.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that unemployment remains at 5.4% in April, relatively unchanged since March. Supposedly 223,000 jobs were created, but as Dr. Paul Craig Roberts (for one) points out, many things are not reported on in the media:

Having looked at the actual details of the payroll jobs report, which are seldom if ever reported in the financial media, let’s look at what else goes unreported in the media” and “The real reporting comes later in revisions. For example, today the headline was 223,000 new jobs, recovery on track, stock market up. What was not reported by the media is that the prior month’s (March) payroll jobs growth was cut to 85,000 jobs, substantially below population growth.

The previously reported employment number for March was 126,000, which implies a downward correction of at least 30%! Hardly even a footnote of this in the mainstream media.

Then there is the labor force participation rate. This is the number of employable people actually participating in the labor force, including students, stay-at home moms and dads, but also discouraged workers. This rate is at the lowest since the 70s and really means that fewer and fewer people who can be in the labor force actually are. Right now it sits at 62.8% according to the BLS. Consider this: 93.194 million Americans are now considered as non-participants in the labor force, which continues to grow. According to the BLS many of them are discouraged workers and people who stopped looking for a job. So then how many? Doesn’t this tell a lot about the jobs market? Why is this merely a footnote in the whole ‘recovery’ story? Time and again we can conclude that there is no economic recovery.

Stay critical, people.

Watch this episode of The Janssen Report here:

* Note: I do not argue that all 93 million Americans who are considered not participating in the labor force should. What I try to say is that the number of discouraged workers who are not counted in the labor force is growing, but this does not show up in the unemployment statistics. Sorry, this is not clear in my reasoning here.

Check out my free membership to learn about the global economic situation, how it hurts you financially and what you can do to hedge yourself against it: FREE membership.

Sources:

• Headline – Greece “contingency” plan
• BLS April jobs report
• BLS labor force participation rate
• Paul Craig Roberts on the US jobs situation
• More reporting on abysmal jobs number, ZeroHedge

Cheers,

Marco Janssen

Host of The Janssen Report