Lies, Damned Lies, and StatisticsUnemployment Worse Than ReportedBY CHRIS PUPLAVA
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."- Benjamin Disraeli, later popularized by Mark Twain.
As of October, the unemployment rate has risen to 6.5%, higher than the peak in the last recession and the highest rate since 1994. While the 6.5% rate has increased markedly from its low set two years ago, given the current dynamic in the economy, that rate still doesn't seem to pass the smell test and "feels" much higher. For more than two decades the relationship between the unemployment rate and the duration of unemployment (median weeks unemployed) showed a very close fit, with a 95% correlation. However, starting in 1994 the two series diverged with the correlation falling to 65%.
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