Why Obamacare is Increasing Unemployment

Despite what the government and experts want us to believe, the economy is still in a slump. How much of a slump remains to be determined, as unadjusted employment data varies substantially between the Bureau of Labor Statistics (7.7%, a 0.1% decrease from last month) and Gallup (8.9%, a 1.2% increase from last month).

Unfortunately, Obama's healthcare reform has the potential to further increase the unemployment rate as scores of employers are reducing their employees' hours in order to avoid the immense cost of the compulsory health care benefits. It will also encourage businesses with 49 employees and no health benefits not to hire, since having 50 employees in this case would cause them to incur a substantial fine.

Unemployment numbers can be misleading without participation rates, which include the "active" portion of the labor force including employed people and those unemployed yet actively seeking work. Unemployed workers who are not looking cause the unemployment rate to go down. It's clear that the economy has yet to recover from its January 2007 peak of 66.4%, and has been steadily decreasing since Obama took office.

The participation rate has not risen above 65% since December 2009, and has been under 64% since January 2012. What's more troubling is that underemployment is at 17.2% (adjusted), according to Gallup

Obamacare is not the only thing hindering economic recovery. Big government generally hinders the economy as it requires stifling regulation. There hasn't been any significant deregulation in a long, long time. All this red tape costs a fortune to comply with, slowing employment and innovation and taking a mammoth amount of time, which in turn is not spent looking for better ways to invest. 

Don't expect the economy, especially the job market, to recover anytime soon. Democrats and Republicans are only interested in furthering their own party goals rather than showing concern for the issues that affect their constituents. Until they shift their priorities, the U.S. will continue to dig itself into a ditch.