On Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:42:16 -0500, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:


"Gunner Asch" wrote in message
.. .
...
...The labor force participation rate hasn't
exceeded 67 percent in the past decade, so we would be looking at a
true
"unemployment" number that bounces between roughly thirty and forty
percent....

Perhaps the ratio of employment divided by total non-prison population
is valid for men, but I don't see how it can be determined for women
who could be single yet contentedly living off their boyfriend.

The percentages are fairly easy to figure. What Gunner doesn't say,
and probably doesn't know, is that the "participation rate" today is
exactly what it was in 1985. The employment rate, which is slightly
different, is what it was in 1984.

It was social changes as much as the economy that drove the rate up.
We're still near historic highs.

If you want any of the data, I keep the Bureau of Labor Statistics
URLs in my research database and I'll pull them up. I can lead you
directly to the graphs and tables.

--
Ed Huntress