Since humans are very curious and always look for improvements in how tasks are accomplished, we know productivity will increase every year as those improvements are incorporated by other adopters who find them useful. Increased productivity is simply getting more done with the same resources or getting the same done with fewer resources (ie, workers).

Many times these improvements are on such a scale that 1% or 5% of the population is no longer needed for the work they were performing before the efficiency improvements were adopted. Thus, temporary unemployment results.

Compounding this issue here is that most of the US has been built out. Its major ports are in place; the transportation system is mostly constructed; every major city has an major airport. But outside the US there are many, many places that are yearning for these same type of infrastructure improvements so their economy can benefit like our economy has benefited over the past 50 years from these infrastructure investments.

But now, the US is so far in debt that it doesn't have too much money to spend anymore, even if some of those previous investments could use some updating. Moreover, there are far better investment opportunities overseas and those countries have currency reserves instead of massive overdebt, so they have money to spend to get these projects completed. For an investor, a rapidly depreciating dollar from the US Fed's quantitative easing programs increases these positive overseas investment returns when the profits are converted back to US dollars in the years down the road.

But the unemplyment rate shouldn't be dependent on any of these marco eceonomic factors. If we adopted a 4-day work week we'd be back to full employment immediately, wages would increase since there would be a better employment supply/demand balance, and we would all be able to improve our job skills marginally as we performed a few hours of other people's work since they are working 20% less, and other people are broadening their skills by doing some of my current work since I'm also working 20% less.

When you add the milions of free hours now available to people by adopting a 4-day work week, people will have more time to devote to their families, or to their local schools, or to work on a community project, or to finish up a personal project. It's self-evident the economic gains from ths free time would also be tremendous for the community and society. Better yet, government transfer payments for unemployment and underemployment would plumment as well, reducing the tax burden to some extent.

So Scott, I don't know where you were taught econ, but the unemployment rate they told you was the truth, is in fact fiction. We just need a better government that will enact laws to divide the work more equitably, like a maximum 4-day work week. Poof. Unemployment and under-employment disappear.

Next problem. Oh, too much government debt? How about a 10% surtax on any interest and rent income earned on amounts over $50,000 and use the proceeds to only pay down government debt? The markets wil love it since the deficits will finally be reduced. We'll have more budget money that can be used on real government programs and services rather than on crushing debt repayments. And when the debt is paid off in a few years, interest rates will be much lower since the government won't be crowding out private borrowers.

We may decide we like the surcharge so much that after the debt is paid off we'l just reduce taxes on working people instead of eliminating the 10% surtax on interest and rent income. That will allow more spending by working people, which will create more jobs and more government tax receipts.

Econ should be called the "Happy Science" for all of the wonderful things it can accomplish, rather than the "Dismal Science" that the wealthy and government would like like us to believe to cover up their fleecing of the public.