MSNBC: Jobless Rate Drops to Lowest Level in Almost Three Years

[tclambert]

100. People like something simple that they can say is a "good" number or a "bad" number.

Total employed at 141 million would have been great 5 years ago, but you have to add about a million a year to keep up with population growth. So 141 million would be terrible 5 years further in the future. With the percentages, you have a better chance of saying "10 percent is bad, 5 percent is good" and being close to right.

It seems to me, as tortured a statistic as U3 is, that at 5% we hit a tipping point where we see more job vacancies than people seeking employment. At that point, when employers have to compete for workers, wages go up and benefit packages get sweeter. At 10%, 6 potential workers apply for every job opening, and employers naturally try to squeeze them to see who is willing to work for the least.

This is a great trend, though, unless you're a Republican.