About those unemployment figures

via Fark

You know how unemployment dipped to 7.8%. There's just one problem with that number. Hint: Don't use fuzzy math and People who give up looking for a job and leave unemployment is not the same as people getting jobs


The Bureau of Labor Statistics delivered yet another disappointing jobs report. In September, the economy only added 114,000 jobs, and while the jobless rate dropped to 7.8%, that mainly came from a mid-year adjustment last month on the number of current jobs:

The unemployment rate decreased to 7.8 percent in September, and total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 114,000, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment increased in health care and in transportation and warehousing but changed little in most other major industries.

The unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage point to 7.8 percent in September. For the first 8 months of the year, the rate held within a narrow range of 8.1 and 8.3 percent. The number of unemployed persons, at 12.1 million, decreased by 456,000 in September.

Looking at the internals, there were few true bright spots, but at least it wasn’t as bleak as the last couple of months. The U-6 number, which captures unemployment and underemployment as well as the marginally attached, stayed the same as in August at 14.7%. The civilian population participation rate rose a tenth of a point to 63.6%, exactly where it was in the 1982 midterm election, and only missing the 31-year low set last month.

The number of unemployed dropped 456,000 last month, while only 114,000 jobs got added. That either means that 342,000 people left the US, or they left the work force in one way or another. In the household survey, though, the number of people with jobs rose by 873,000 — a very strange outcome that makes it appear that more than one tweak has been done to previous data. (The +873K is in the seasonally adjusted number, by the way.)

CNBC calls the numbers “tame,” but also notes the “contradictory” numbers:


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Jobs report: 114K jobs added, jobless rate 7.8%; Update: CNBC confused by “contradictory” numbers; Update: Bloomberg explains? « Hot Air

Ed, Rachel and Chris Matthews seem to have a lot of information about this topic. I challenge them to produce some verifiable documentation that isn't politically motivated. The there is Dave Axelrod who was last seen in a Fox Hole on the Capitol Grounds cursing at the landscaping crew. He doesn't have a clue about how this all got out of control.

You can't have it both ways. Republicans have been using data from the same sources for the last couple of years to pillory Obama. Now that those sources show an improvement in the unemployment rate suddenly they claim the figures are rigged. Are the Republicans willing to retract all their previous claims based on those sources? Somehow I doubt it.

Romney is just seeing a "little flash in the pan" right now and Republicans don't know how to interpret it. Things will be back to normal Nov. 7.

- Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch grew GE by over 500% during his tenure at the helm and had over 400,000 employees in what was then the largest private company in the world.

- So Welch knows a thing or two about what it takes to create growing companies and about what a growing economy feels like.

- He's not buying the Chicago mugs, thugs and slugs latest attempt to steal the election nor should you.

- Here is his persusasive take on this latest Obamination:

http://tammybruce.com/2012/10/jack-welc … um=twitter

Yer starting to sound like an obamaton lately

Maybe, I tend to trust Obama but can't say the same for Romney.

- Locutus ... You seem to be suggesting that Chicago politicians just might manipulate or misinterpret job data for political gain.

- Any more talk like that, punk, and I'll have Vito pay you a visit to do a number on your kneecaps. I'll be away for a couple of days or so but when I return I expect to see on this website a full and fulsome apology to our revered president and to other Chicago politicians such as the two governors currently in The Big House.

- As for this scurrilous attack on the BLS, it is strictly coincidental that the largest drop in official unemployment in about thirty years to get under the 8% threshold occured mere days after Obama got his *** kicked in the first presidential debate and mere weeks before the presidential election. It is also strictly coincidental that all of the drop in unemployment came courtesy of the notoriously unrelaible household telephone survey of about 50,000 which was extrapolated to "show" that over 600,000 Americans had suddenly acquired jobs (even though the vast majority were low paying part time jobs) while the much more relaible survey of 150,000 businesses indicated just 114,000 net new jobs which would have held the unemployment rate to 8.1% or 8.2%. Likewise it is strictly coincidental that the BLS union donated heavily to the Obama campaign and that two senior BLS executives donated personally to Obama's campaign.

- So you need to apologize, punk, and you need to do it NOW. Trust me, you don't ever want to meet Vito.

Limbaugh predicted this low unemployment rate months ago as a ploy to get the poseur re-eleted.

See, I Told You So: Regime Manipulates the Jobless Number Below 8% by Election Day - The Rush Limbaugh Show

For whatever Limbaugh's predictions are worth! I suppose he gets one right once in awhile!

If you listened to him regularly you'd notice he's right all of the time and correct most of the time.

Only someone with a political axe to grind could find a downside to more people having jobs.

In spite of all the claims about professional federal employees producing these numbers and the veracity of them imagine one forward looking career employee just monkeying a little with the data. Then think of the promotional possibilities if your candidate wins? Any one has a price and this is the big time folks. Think about it!

Actually a homophobic, racist, idiot might not be the best source of information. But it does perhaps explain where some of your ideas come from.

For you to believe that the President is manipulating the jobs numbers, you also have to believe that he is also manipulating the Dow, the housing market, consumer confidence…. And that he waited 43 months to finally fix the jobs numbers.



The One Advantage The GOP Has Is That They Have No Credibility To Lose | Eclectablog

Families were tricked into buying homes they couldn't afford? lol poor helpless lambs.

If you can't find a job then make a job, companies are closing down for cheaper pastures in other countries creates opportunities for the workers left behind.

Jack Welch: I Was Right About That Strange Jobs Report


Imagine a country where challenging the ruling authorities—questioning, say, a piece of data released by central headquarters—would result in mobs of administration sympathizers claiming you should feel "embarrassed" and labeling you a fool, or worse.

Soviet Russia perhaps? Communist China? Nope, that would be the United States right now, when a person (like me, for instance) suggests that a certain government datum (like the September unemployment rate of 7.8%) doesn't make sense

The Obama campaign and its supporters, including bigwigs like David Axelrod and Robert Gibbs, along with several cable TV anchors, would like you to believe that BLS data are handled like the gold in Fort Knox, with gun-carrying guards watching their every move, and highly trained, white-gloved super-agents counting and recounting hourly.

Let's get real. The unemployment data reported each month are gathered over a one-week period by census workers, by phone in 70% of the cases, and the rest through home visits. In sum, they try to contact 60,000 households, asking a list of questions and recording the responses.

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Jack Welch: I Was Right About That Strange Jobs Report - WSJ.com

Pick a number. Any number under 8.2% and if you are a Democrat it is correct. If you are a Republican it is incorrect. Who actually can put an accurate number on the table?? No one in either of these Parties can evidently. Lets hope Ron Paul wins in November. Then we can blame the Texans! Right???

It Looks Like The Huge Drop In Jobless Claims Was All Due To One Mystery State

Jobless Claims Impacted By One State - Business Insider


We've Gotten To The Bottom Of The Mysterious Jobless Claims Report

What Happened With Jobless Claims - Business Insider


Why Jobless Claims May Not Be as Good as Market Thinks

Another Jobs Report Prompts Head Scratching - US Business News - CNBC

What the stats never tell is how many are underemployed or not working in their desired field. And of course we all know that once EI runs out you are no longer on the unemployed list.

That's just one of the problems with "statistics" that I tried to pound through S.J.P.'s thick head ad infinitim!

Anyone good with numbers and loose with the truth can make statistics say whatever they want.