My Comments: As most of you know, my income is derived largely from helping folks manage their money, making sure it’s in a safe place and growing. It requires a constant awareness of the forces that are working for or against you.

The last few months have appeared to be strong for the stock market; record profits, slow decline in unemployment numbers, house prices stabilized and increasing here and there. All these lead to a more positive impression of the future. Until you come across an article like this. And while I want desperately to give you encouraging news, this is further evidence that we are a long way from a robust and free flowing economy.

A substantial number of those out of work today are there because they’ve been laid off from state, federal, city, and other government positions. Tax revenue simply isn’t there, and agencies and departments have let people go, much less hired new people. So while you may be reluctant to consider tax increases, remember that much of that goes toward wages and allows people to pay their mortgages, fix theri car, buy better groceries and take care of their health, and generally stimulate the economy.

Austerity, while necessary long term, leads to a lot more short term pain. Yes, it can and does go too far the other way from time to time, but to cut back too much at the government level simply leads us in a downward spiral into mediocrity.

By Annalyn Censky | CNNMoney.com – Thu, May 3, 2012

There are far more jobless people in the United States than you might think.

While it’s true that the unemployment rate is falling, that doesn’t include the millions of nonworking adults who aren’t even looking for a job anymore. And hiring isn’t strong enough to keep up with population growth.

As a result, the labor force is now at its smallest size since the 1980s when compared to the broader working age population.

“We’ve been getting some job growth and it’s been significant, but it hasn’t yet been strong enough that you start to get people re-engaging in the labor market,” said Keith Hall, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center and former commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

A person is counted as part of the labor force if they have a job or have looked for one in the last four weeks. Only about 64% of Americans over the age of 16 currently fall into that category, according to the Labor Department. That’s the lowest labor force participation rate since 1984.