No, actually, it's apparently 42.1% because I missed the incarcerated population in my copy/paste to spreadsheet, below.
Please, somebody, anybody, show me where I'm double counting ... if I'm double counting. I don't think so, but all source data is linked for your loyal relentless scrutiny.
- Incarcerated?
- You don't count.
- 1.5% (Incarceration in the U.S.)
- Retired?
- You don't count.
- 14.4% (Beneficiaries / U.S. Adult Population)
- Differently Abled?
- You don't count.
- 1.9% (SSI Recipients over 18 / U.S. Adult Population)
- Discouraged, disillusioned, disenfranchised, day trading drop out?
- You don't count in U3.
- Lowball total guesstimate of 0.5% in U4.
- Working 14 hours a day raising your children?
- You don't count.
- Mothers 2.2%. Fathers 0.001% (2009 Census Data / U.S. Adult Population)
- Fathers, you REALLY, REALLY don't count. Can it really be that low, or have you been shamed into never, never, ever reporting such a horrendously despicable, worthless status?
- Self-employed, scrambling, and screwed?
- You don't count.
- 4.3% (Ag + NonAg / U.S. Adult Population)
The rest of you losers do count, sort of. You're the currently "official" 17.3% unemployed.
In Sum: 1.5 + 14.4 + 1.9 + 0.5 + 2.2 + (nevermind those 0.001% lazy dads) + 4.3 + 17.3 = 42.1%
News Flash: At best, this is going to remain steady for the foreseeable future.
Upshot: If these numbers are even anywhere near accurate, it means that we are already way into Structural Unemployment land, boys and girls. Yes, it means that 19th Century Industrial Capitalism worked. We are so astronomically technologically enhanced, roboticized, computerized, and insanely efficient, that just 60% of able bodied, educated adults are more than capable of providing 100% of market demand for our domestic and export economies.
And we're getting even more efficient, every day, as nearly all recent projections call for ever increasing corporate growth with perpetually anemic demand for workers.
