The issue for the economy is unemployment

Over at the blog Rortybomb (see here) there are some very illustrative graphs about the real issues in the economy (unemployment and demand).  I use the word "real issues" as compared to all this political rhetoric out of the White House and the Republicans.  One of the more interesting graphs is shown below (click to enlarge).

Mike Konczal (Rortybomb) states:

You have to go back to pre-1988 to find an era when there were a fewer percentage of women working than there are right now.

Meanwhile, how’s the economy working out for those with jobs?  Average weekly earnings of all private employees dropped from $791.20 to $788.56.  We can’t really have an inflationary spiral based on prices and wages if wages are decreasing.  Also without a buildup in wages, it’s harder to argue that we are having a “structural unemployment problem” – those who do have the skills necessary to get a job aren’t turning that into higher wages. 

The folks over at Calculated Risk (see here) state the issue very clearly (emphasis mine):

There are a total of 14.1 million Americans unemployed and 6.3 million have been unemployed for more than 6 months. Very grim numbers.

And they have a graph that drives home the huge issue of long-term unemployment (click to enlarge).