I Suspect Someone Will Suggest That My Arguments Aren't Working, Either - Jim Geraghty

I Suspect Someone Will Suggest That My Arguments Aren't Working, Either - Jim Geraghty: "Ramesh and King Banaian dispute yesterday’s post on whether the “real” unemployment figure is higher than 10 percent and might be even as high as 22 percent.

Perhaps I’m extrapolating from personal anecdotes too much; I know two folks who want to work, looked for work through much of 2008, and have largely stopped actively looking for work because there simply aren’t any prospects in their field in their area (and yes, relocation, branching into different fields, and the usual moves are not realistic options). I think these folks ought to be counted as unemployed, since they want a job and can’t find one; the idea that not sending out a résumé for an extended period of time suddenly makes you “not unemployed” in the government’s eyes is one that I have a hard time getting my head around.

In the example Ramesh cites,

even that small number of discouraged workers is not simply those who could not find work, but those who simply 'think' no work is available, or think they are too young, too old, or that they lack the necessary schooling or training.

Yeah, but at the end of the day, they're still not going to a workplace, doing any work, or collecting a paycheck. Sure, an engineer could become a short-order cook or a software programmer could become a Starbucks barista; there indeed may be jobs out there that they’re not taking. But in the end, you still have unemployed engineers and software programmers."