1. Just a reminder where the real numbers are for the US economy but that game is played on a global scale. To understand the dimensions of the global fraud of governments and business owners who negotiate yearly salary hikes by those far too low inflation numbers especially in the last 10 years they went even steeper into the false numbers game. Below the real inflation thereby the latest numbers are not worked in yet the real inflation is rather above 6% on average and now marches quickly to 10 % and above the interest you earn is between zero and 4 % but the later one is very risky as you have to lock in for 30 years insane low interest rates ( negative ones). Actually your saved money has only half of its value after 6-7 years at current levels. Calculate back and you have already lost that with stocks making no return for over 10 years you have even lost more as you even did not make the nominal rates.

excerpt from http://www.shadowstats.com/

Alternate Inflation Charts

The CPI chart on the home page reflects our estimate of inflation for today as if it were calculated the same way it was in 1990. The CPI on the Alternate Data Series tab here reflects the CPI as if it were calculated using the methodologies in place in 1980. In general terms, methodological shifts in government reporting have depressed reported inflation, moving the concept of the CPI away from being a measure of the cost of living needed to maintain a constant standard of living.
Further definition is provided in our CPI Glossary. Further background on the SGS-Alternate CPI series is available in the Archives in the August 2006 SGS newsletter.
CPI Data Series

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CPI Year-to-Year Growth

The CPI-U (consumer price index) is the broadest measure of consumer price inflation for goods and services published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
While the headline number usually is the seasonally-adjusted month-to-month change, the formal CPI is reported on a not-seasonally-adjusted basis, with annual inflation measured in terms of year-to-year percent change in the price index.

Here we show the annual percent change (year-to-year) in both the CPI-U and the SGS-Alternate CPI.

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Alternate Unemployment Charts

The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers.

The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline number. The U-6 unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) broadest unemployment measure, including short-term discouraged and other marginally-attached workers as well as those forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment.

Unemployment Data Series

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