Sometimes what is not counted is as important as what is counted

There is a fair amount of positive press about last week's employment report. Unemployment, according to the report is now 5%. But, as Dean Baker points out, things are not as good as they seem. In the first place workers are only counted in the data as being unemployed if they have looked for work in the last month. So, the guy who has been out of work for months and may have given up is not unemployed unless he looked for a job last month?

Then there is the issue of pay. Real wages for most workers are only slightly above their pre-recession level, and have risen by just over 7% since the turn of the century.  Those with a job are likely concerned about the job market as quit rates remain near recession levels.