I guess that’s one way to lower the official unemployment rate, suck workers out of the economy.

(CNSNews.com) – In a sign that the employment picture remains weak, 4.4 million people reported being permanently out of work in July, according to government figures. That number has remained abnormally high since the recession ended three years ago.

While the total number of unemployed persons increased by 45,000 in July to 12.8 million, that figure masks the true causes of unemployment, which can range from retirement to temporary layoffs to being fired.

This is because the government calculates unemployment by asking people if they have jobs and, if not, if they have looked for work in the past month. If they don’t have jobs but have looked for work, the government classifies them as unemployed – and only then does it ask why they are unemployed.

Those who say they were fired are designated as permanent job losers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While this figure has declined since its recession-era peak of 6.8 million in November 2009, it remains well above the pre-recession level of around 1.6 million.

What this means is that slightly more than one-third of the unemployed – the 4.4 million — are unemployed because they have permanently lost their jobs, not due to other factors such as retirement or temporary layoffs.