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Unemployment stats fail to take into account underemployment, disability

Posted on March 13th, 2012 Read time: 1 minutes

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) recently released a report indicating that employers added 227,000 jobs in February, and that the unemployment rate has remained at 8.3 percent.

However, Albert Lu, managing director and chief portfolio manager at WB Advisors, believes those stats to be "misleading," according to the Daily Caller. He added that "the economy is most definitely still in a slump."

Without a seasonal adjustment, the unemployment rate actually rose to 9.1 in February, from 8.6 in January, the news source states. Also, at least 10 percent of people are underemployed part-time workers who want full-time jobs.

Furthermore, the DOL's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed that more Americans are going on Social Security Disability for afflictions such as depression – possibly due in some part to their lack of employment. These people are not included in unemployment statistics.

BLS also found that even though businesses and professional services added 82,000 jobs in February, more than half (45,000) were in the form of temporary workers, who also are likely in the market for full-time positions.  

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