Jim Clifton, the chairman and CED of the prestigious Gallup polling firm is calling the 5.6 percent unemployment rate reported by the U.S. Department of Labor “The Big Lie.”
Clifton notes that the 30 million Americans either out of work or severely underemployed are not counted. He pointed out that those who have stopped looking for work are not counted as unemployed while those who work one hour a week and are paid at least $20 are.
Further he noted that those working part time but seeking full-time work are not reflected in the numbers.
“There’s no other way to say this. The official unemployment rate, which cruelly overlooks the suffering of the long-term and often permanently unemployed as well as the depressingly underemployed, amounts to a Big Lie,” Clifton said.
Clifton said that Gallu defines a good job as at least 30 hours per week for an organization the provides a regular paycheck and that only 44 percent of of the adult population has one.