Unemployment 8.5% .... Really?

From CNBC:

The U.S. unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 8.5 percent last month as job creation was more robust than expected, providing continued signs that the nation's labor market is improving gradually.....

The so-called U-6 number, more encompassing than the headline number the government publicizes ... 15.2 percent ....


There are still 1.4 million fewer Americans employed from when the president took office in January 2009, a labor force participation rate at a record low and average unemployment duration double what it was then. The level of discouraged workers has surged 34 percent.

"Today’s report holds promise, but the dual realities of deeply entrenched long-term unemployment   and   job creation still heavily concentrated in lower-wage sectors like retail and food services threaten our ability to achieve the kind of economy we need,” Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, said in a statement.

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Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/45898349

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From the WSJ Real Time Economics Blog:

"42,000 of the job gains were in the couriers and messengers sector, which normally never adds or subtracts more than 1,000 jobs in any single month."  –Paul Ashworth, Capital Economics


"The good news ... employment is up. The bad news is that the higher paying jobs have yet to return… "  –Steven Blitz, ITG Investment Research


"...it is important to note the context: the jobs deficit left from losses in 2008/2009 remains well over 10 million jobs....

...even at December’s growth rate, it would still take about seven more years — until around 2019 — to fill the gap and get back to the pre-recession unemployment rate. We need reports this strong and stronger for many years to come to bring our labor market back to health." –Heidi Shierholz, Economic Policy Institute
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Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/01/06/economists-react-step-in-the-right-direction-for-jobs/