The Wall Street Journal offers a good explanation for the difference between the official unemployment rate and the true state of the joblessness problem:The U.S. jobless rate rose to 9.6% in August, but the government's broader measure of unemployment rose even more to 16.7%, the highest rate since April.[...]Both rates increased despite a rise of 290,000 in the number of people who are employed. The number of unemployed people in the U.S. also rose, but by a smaller amount - 261,000. The unemployment rates moved up as more unemployed people moved back into the labor force to look for jobs. More than half a million people re-entered the job market last month, as the overall labor force rose 550,000.[...]The 9.6% unemployment rate is calculated based on people who are without jobs, who are available to work and who have actively sought work in the prior four weeks. The "actively looking for work" definition is fairly broad, including people who contacted an employer,...(Read Full Post)