CEOs Say Jobless Rate Much Higher

(DALLAS, TX) The CEOs of the Job Creators Network said today’s jobs report showing an official unemployment rate of 6.3 percent fails to account for a disappearing labor force that worries economic analysts across the ideological spectrum.

“At 6.3 percent unemployment today, America is missing a workforce big enough to fill every job in Illinois,” said Slavic Group CEO John Slavic. “Add those missing workers to the total and the true unemployment rate should be 10.8 percent.” Job Creators Network believes the unemployment count is missing more than seven million people because it fails to count for falling labor force participation.

JCN’s estimate assumes a 66-plus percent labor force participation rate that existed at the time of the economic crisis in 2008 and for two decades before. The current rate is 62.8, a very low level of workforce participation not seen since the 1970s.

“This isn’t a partisan talking point: The Economic Policy Institute, a think tank run by labor unions, has their own number and calls them ‘missing workers’,” said Slavic. “We may disagree about how to fix this problem, but we agree the problem is very big, very real and very bad.”

The EPI puts out a monthly rebuttal to the official unemployment report, accounting for the falling labor force participation rate. Following the March report, the group tabulated nearly 5.3 million additional “missing workers” from the official tally, and a true unemployment rate of 9.8 percent.

“The highest unemployment and most missing workers are among our youth who have little education and little job experience,” Slavic said. “A higher minimum wage makes adding them to the work force that much more expensive. They’ll be living in their parents’ basement until Washington shifts course.”A recent Brookings Institution study reveals nearly 3.6 million young adults, ages 20-24, are considered “disconnected youth.” They have no job, are not attending school, and have no degree more advanced than a high school diploma. This group is considered at elevated risk for future poverty and joblessness.

ABOUT JOB CREATORS NETWORK

Job Creators Network (JCN) is the voice of real job creators that has been missing from the debate on jobs and our economic crisis. JCN members talk about paychecks, not politics, helping the public and policymakers understand how to create jobs. For more information please visit www.JobCreatorsNetwork.com.