Unemployment drops 0.1% thanks to uptick in Stripping-copper-from-abandoned-buildings and Prostitution sectors

Earlier today the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the long-anticipated jobs report for July. On the surface, the news was good: the official unemployment number (U-3) dropped from 9.2% to 9.1%. But a closer inspection revealed the cockroaches that infest the ongoing Obama depression:

• U-3 went "down" because a record number of workers were statistically removed from the workforce

• The employment-to-population ratio hit 58.1%, the lowest since 1983

• 44% of unemployed Americans, or 6.2 million people, have been seeking work for more than six months

• The actual number of employed persons (by Household Survey) declined by 156,000

• Those dropping out of the labor force rose by 374,000

• Were it not for people dropping out of the labor force for the past two years, the official U-3 unemployment rate would be well over 11%

• While the "official" unemployment rate is an unacceptable 9.1%, the true U-6 unemployment rate is much higher at 16.1%

Tyler Durden observes:

[The] average length of unemployment ... just hit a new all time high of 40.4 weeks in July, up from the previous record of 39.9 in June. Someone should tell the average American who is rapidly approaching one year in average unemployment that the stock market soared on good payroll news. They will be delighted.

There was one real bright spot in hiring: government employment decreased by 37,000.