Afternoon-Must Read: Matt O’Brien: Tomorrow’s Jobs Report Is All About Discouraged Workers

Matt O’Brien: Nevermind the headlines, tomorrow’s jobs report is all about discouraged workers: “Is the stronger labor market bringing back discouraged workers?…

The Great Recession didn’t just create an unemployment crisis. It created a shadow unemployment crisis, too. These are the millions of Americans who want a job, but have given up hope of finding one. That means they’re not officially ‘unemployed’, because they’re not actively looking for work, but they de facto are. The question is whether they’ll come back to the labor market now that it’s looking better. As you can see below, that’s historically what has happened…. That’s why you should pay almost as much attention to how much the labor force grows—if it does—as you do on how much employment grows…