This is a tough one. In the 1950s I guess half the population (mums at home) were 'missing'. The real question is: if the job opportunities appear again, will the missing workers 'appear'. This would seem to put a bottom under the unemployment rate. Maybe it can never fall below 6% again. Maybe it will just oscillate between 6 and 9% forever. As it rises more and more workers go missing. As it falls more and more missing workers appear.
I wonder what the historical unemployment rate would look like if ALL people of working age were included in the pool looking for work. Maybe 9.6% is indeed the historical average. Maybe at any given time, for whatever reason, 10% of people who 'could work' choose to 'not work and not look'.
So now I have reasoned myself into the following: maybe all is OK now and as it has always been... or... maybe the US economy is in a deep depression. Hmmm, which one is it?
