[johnnyanmac]

lies, damn lies, and statistics.

It's an oft-mentioned point in the last few yearss to focus on raw income and not on spending power. if you get 50% more pay but rent doubles, the vast majority of people would have less spending power. same with job numbers. "Unemployment is historically low!". meanwhile, gig and part time worked soard while full time jobs dipped.

In addition, you look further and realize how people who "gave up" after 2-3 months without an interview are not counted as "unemployed" and you realize there's a lot to break down, that no one is breaking down

[asah]

Indeed it's complicated, but BLS does count them as "discouraged":

https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/persons-not-...

https://www.bls.gov/cps/lfcharacteristics.htm#discouraged

BLS may not be perfect but they're not idiots and it's wildly better than other countries.