The Off Topic Topic

[Ideologue]

It was a she.  He actually did better.  He wrote the district manager, who didn't want my brother to leave, so hired him back and fired his manager.  But because my brother is stupid, he didn't take her job after it was offered to him.

I dub your brother 'Gay Hans'.

[Admiral Yi]

What's U3, what's U6, and what do you mean by garbage?

[Ideologue]

They're the various metrics the BLS uses to track unemployment/underemployment data.  U3 is the official rate that gets reported the most, U6 is the broader net, that includes total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force.

Both can go down while labor force participation goes down.

U6 actually isn't that bad.  Indeed, "garbage" was hyperbole.  They're all useful numbers for different things.  As a gauge of the overall health of the economy, however, U3 is a very bad number to use.  For that, I think labor force participation is far, far superior.

[jimmy olsen]

So what do they mean? U6 is long term unemployed? Six months?

[Admiral Yi]

My guess is if you took a look at a long term graph of labor force participation it would not track that closely with economic good times.  For example, the large scale entry of women into the work force had next to nothing to do with increased economic activity.

[Ideologue]

My guess is if you took a look at a long term graph of labor force participation it would not track that closely with economic good times.  For example, the large scale entry of women into the work force had next to nothing to do with increased economic activity.

Labor force participation is pretty good for comparisons between 2005 and today.  Obviously, it's a terrible metric for comparisons between 1925 and today.

Male labor force participation also has its problems and cannot be directly compared to old stats, as it is affected by female labor force participation and has been on a pronounced downward slope since the Before Times, but it has accelerated since 2008.  That said, the overall downward trend is as much a social problem as an economic one.

[The Brain]

Male labor

Unlikely.

[Eddie Teach]

Male labor

Unlikely.

[The Brain]

Male labor

Unlikely.

Not a documentary.

[Josquius]

oh my god

[The Brain]

This changes everything.

[Eddie Teach]

What did the Irish do to Dorne?

[Norgy]

My guess is if you took a look at a long term graph of labor force participation it would not track that closely with economic good times.  For example, the large scale entry of women into the work force had next to nothing to do with increased economic activity.

When do people typically retire in the US?

[Ideologue]

Never.

[MadImmortalMan]

They just die on the job. If they're men, anyway.