President Trump called the U.S. unemployment rate a “hoax” during his campaign.
But he really believes in one figure: The number of Americans not in the work force.
“96 million [people] really wanting a job and they can’t get. You know that story. The real number — that’s the real number,” Trump said at a press conference on Jan. 11.
It is true: More than 95 million Americans are not working — but it isn’t true that they all really want a job.
To see how it all breaks down, CNNMoney got the numbers for the most recent quarter from the Atlanta Federal Reserve.
All Americans 16 years old and up: 254.5 million
Americans in the labor force with a job: 152.2 million
Americans in the labor force without a job: 7.2 million
That leaves 95.1 million Americans not in the labor force. But a lot of them are not in the labor force for understandable reasons.
44.1 million are retired.
15.4 million are disabled.
12.9 million are taking care of a family member.
15.5 million are in college or job training.
So: of the 95.1 million Americans not working, 87.9 million are retired, disabled, taking care of a loved one, or in school.
That leaves 7.2 million people – what about them?
5.5 million Americans have looked for a job in the past year OR want a job but have given up searching for over a year.
1.7 million Americans are in the shadows. We don’t know why they are not in the work force.
