In a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner, David John Marotta makes a strong case that the real unemployment number is 37.2%, and not the “official” government number of 6.7%.  Marotta accurately points out that while the unemployment number has declined, the number of Americans leaving the work force (or the people actually out of work) has been steadily increasing to record numbers. How can the unemployment rate go down, while the number of people leaving and staying out of the work force are going up?  The Obama administration simply changes the way they report these numbers!

Marotta points out that the “misery index,” an economic calculation made famous during the Carter years, is at a 40 year high.  Marotta also states that we cannot trust the numbers reported by the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department because, when it comes to the real unemployment rate and the true “Misery Index,” the numbers are simply put … fraudulent! The government is being dishonest in how it calculates both unemployment and inflation.  These are the two numbers used to get the Misery Index figure.

In a memo provided to his clients, David John Marotta calculated the real unemployment rate of those not working is a sky-high 37.2 percent, not the 6.7 percent advertised by the Fed.   A more accurate Misery Index is over 14, and not the 8 claimed by the government.

“The unemployment rate only describes people who are working or looking for work,” Morotta said. That means they leave out a ton of other people, such as those who have run out of unemployment benefits and those who have simply given up.

“Unemployment in its truest definition, meaning people who do not have any job, is 37.2 percent. This number obviously includes some people who are not or never plan to seek employment. But it does describe how many people are not able to, do not want to or cannot find a way to work. Policies that remove the barriers to employment, thus decreasing this number, are obviously beneficial,” he and colleague Megan Russell in their new investors note from their offices in Charlottesville, Va.