[lbo-talk] unemployment / inflation

Doug Henwood dhenwood at panix.com
Tue Jun 15 17:09:59 PDT 2004


C. G. Estabrook wrote:


>That broader measure is dramatically higher, at 9.7 percent in May,
>compared with the official level of 5.6 percent.

That's true, but it's always true (it's usually 1.5-2 times as high as the official rate). But it's come down from the cyclical peak. I've lived through enough bizcycles now to recognize the pattern: when the job market starts improving, lefties say "But the U-6 rate is so high!" (assuming they know they know what the U-6 rate is). Capitalism sucks in so many long-term ways, why focus so obsessively on something that's almost certain to improve over the next few months?

Doug



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