You know the economy is bad when...

[kc261]

a rise in unemployment is considered a good sign.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...s=rss_metro/dc

Here's the first paragraph:

Unemployment rates rose in the District, Maryland and Virginia in January, a shift that economists said could be a positive sign for the economy because it suggests that discouraged job-seekers are feeling more optimistic about their prospects and have resumed looking for work.

[Spaniard]

I'm not seeing the logic behind that statement? Is there an econimist here that can translate that into common sense?

[DarkComeSoon]

I'm not seeing the logic behind that statement? Is there an econimist here that can translate that into common sense?

I'm pretty sure they're saying that the rise in unemployment is going to inspire people to continue to job hunt.

[Spaniard]

I'm pretty sure they're saying that the rise in unemployment is going to inspire people to continue to job hunt.

Hehe my post was an attempt at sarcasm. It still makes no sense to me.

More unemployment means more people in competition for jobs; which gives employers more leverage when considering candidates and salary levels. Not to mention that rises in unemployment mean that business are shedding jobs still and not looking to create.

Its also a horrible situation for new college graduates who have to not only compete for entry level positions but now compete against unemployed people who have more experience in their given fields.

[mr. s]

No. Unemployment does not reflect the actual number of people employed or not. The definition of unemployment is the percentage of people who do not have work, and ARE LOOKING for work. Therefore, both jobs AND unemployment can rise at the same time. For instance, a homeless guy who has never put in a resume is not considered 'unemployed', he is without employment though.
SO, what the economist is saying is that more people are looking for work, which means that the hopelessness of the American recession seems to be subsiding and they have probably started looking because jobs are starting to open up.
I did not comment on this earlier because the original post did not make sense since the article was very straight forward, but I guess the definition of unemployment is easily misunderstood at times.

Spaniard, you have some good points, although I think they are not accurate with the information given in the article. As I mentioned above, it does not necessarily mean that employers are shedding jobs. Furthermore, yes, jobs are difficult to come by at times, but I have faith in a market economy.

[You guys should all move to western canada. Although we too have had a slight set back due to your recession, we got lots of great paying jobs still!]

[xxsplitfirexx]

I'm not seeing the logic behind that statement? Is there an econimist here that can translate that into common sense?

...did you just use economist and common sense in the same sentence?

sounds like something that belongs in a zoo....

[Seru1]

It sounds like media spin BS to me. It's sad that you really can't trust the friggan news media anymore.

[boasandballs]

Stupid me, I just figured that the people ran out of their unemployment money, and now they were out looking for jobs.

[Ash]

A rise in unemployment doesn't mean a rise in people without jobs. In means that more people are LOOKING for jobs. To qualify as unemployed, you need to be looking for a job. So a stay-at-home mom, for example, doesn't affect the unemployment rate. They just don't count her.

This a good sign for the economy because if more people are looking for jobs, it means they are feeling better about their chances of getting one.

[BPelizabeth]

hmmmmmmmmm...I know they say that it will rise and that is a good sign. However.....I don't get it. To me it just means there are more ppl claiming unemployment hence loosing their jobs and yes looking for a job but clearly not finding one. So when it is a sign of the economy taking a turn...I just don't get it.