The unemployment rate fell from 5.5% to 5.3%, but the reasons for the drop should are nothing to cheer about.

The job market is weak and the reasons are frightening.

According to the New York Times, “The unemployment rate didn’t fall in June because more people were hired. The rate fell solely because the number of people who had become dispirited and stopped looking for work far exceeded the number who found jobs.

“The percentage of Americans in the workforce — defined as those who either have a job or are actively seeking one — dropped to 62.6 percent, a 38-year low, from 62.9 percent. (The figure was 66 percent when the recession began in 2007.) Fewer job holders typically mean weaker growth for the economy. The growth of the labor force slowed to just 0.3 percent in 2014, compared with 1.1 percent in 2007.”

The United States has not recovered from this recession, as millions are either unemployed or underemployed (in part-time jobs, looking for full-time employment).

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