US Rep McCotter: Jobless Numbers Understate Real Unemployment

Washington, D.C. – The Department of Labor today released the national unemployment rate for the month of September.  At 9.6%, that rate was maintained for the second straight month, although 95,000 jobs were lost.  State unemployment numbers are scheduled for release on October 22.  At present, Michigan possesses the country’s second highest rate of unemployment at 13.1% and more than 650,000 Michiganders out of work.

U.S. Representative Thaddeus G. McCotter said, “More big government taxes, spending, deficits and debt are prolonging this painful recession and Americans’ suffering.”

Regarding the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ unemployment measure, Rep. McCotter decried, "Only government could come up with something that says you've been unemployed too long to be considered unemployed.  In fact, what you would find, as a statistic, is if every American in the world stopped looking for work, you would have an unemployment rate of zero."