The true unemployment rate in the United States is actually higher than we think – at 11.5%, said Stephen Roach, Asia chairman of Morgan Stanley.
“The (official) unemployment rate at 9.7% is distorted downwards by at least 3 million people who have simply given up looking for work and who have effectively taken themselves out of the work force for economic reasons,” Roach said on CNBC.
“For some bizarre reason, the US statisticians do not count these poor souls as unemployed. If you add them back in, the unemployment rate isn’t 9.7%. It’s 11.5%,” he said.
Source: CNBC, March 8, 2010.
