The Real Unemployment Number 16.4% —We Are Closer To A Depression

December 5, 2008

The Government just released the unemployment numbers for May 2009.

The published unemployment rate is a gloomy 9.4%.

If you feel like more than 9.4% of people are out of work, you are right. As CWN pointed out months ago (see related story below) the actual number of people out of work is much higher. If you count workers who have been out of the workforce for more than a year or who have given up hope of finding a job, the real unemployment number is a staggering 16.4 %.

During the Great Depression the unemployment rate climbed to 25%. Yes, we are more than half way there!