The health of our economy has been measured based on the wrong statistic: unemployment. It’s a political number that everyone pays very close attention to, but it’s not as important to the health of the economy as it appears to be. Statistically, 9% unemployment is high, but most of the unemployment is in low-paying jobs. Unemployment among people with a bachelor’s degree is 5.4%, while among those who don’t have a high school diploma is almost 15%. Workers with a bachelor’s degree make almost three times more than those who didn’t graduate from high school. Thus, the impact of unemployment on the economy is a lot less pronounced than the headline number may indicate. The trend in unemployment is more important than the number itself.
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Fed is Measuring U.S. Economic Health by the Wrong Number
A great piece by one of my favorite authors.
