What would the unemployment rate during the Great Depression have been if calculated using todays standards?
An article on Motley Fool claims that if the unemployment rate were determined as it was 80 years ago, we’d have 17.5 percent unemployment today. http://boards.fool.com/Message.asp?mid=2… I think any way you slice it, today’s unemployment rate calculation system spews out lower numbers. Remember that back then, most women would probably not be counted as part of the work force. There’s a lot more working women now. Here’s something from wiki that clarifies what *is* and what *isn’t* counted in today’s calculations. “It is possible to be neither employed nor unemployed by ILO definitions, i.e., to be outside of the “labor force.” These are people who have no job and are not looking for one. Many of these are going to school or are retired. Family responsibilities keep others out of the labor force. Still others have a physical or mental disability which prevents them from participating in labor force activiti
