Jobless Numbers Skewed Again

[decoy409]

As in today's post.

And of course gold/silver need do nothing, look at the push on the fiat note overnight and into early this morning. That's fine humour all in it's own.

[bga4444]

Decoy, Good morning! You are right the job numbers are a absolute joke! They list not even creating enough jobs for population growth yet all the numbers fall! Who are they trying to kid?

[decoy409]

bga4444, Good Morning to you as well! The ongoing will only continue. Catch today's post and last night late add in's? This party is just getting going bga4444!

[itstippy]

The learned analysts I've read say it's because of horrible January weather. Apparently employers are not willing to hire, and job-seekers are not willing to seek jobs, when the weather gets bad. They all go shopping instead (January retail sales went through the roof). Makes sense to me.

People wonder why economists can't get things right. Look at the garbage numbers they have to work with! These January employment figures will be adjusted up or down 40% within a few weeks.

Quick - somebody call that Yum guy over at National Association of Realtors and get his take. He's their chief economist. Is now a good time to buy a house?

[vl]

I have some NAR forecasts that would astound you. They were so incredibly far off from Reality in the early 2000's and haven't gotten any better.

[itstippy]

I don't accuse government agencies of "skewing the numbers" if they use the same methodology they've always used. The idiotic "analysts" the media trots out are the worst skewing offenders. They don't explain WHY the numbers must be taken with a grain of salt. A headline reading "Unemployment Rate Drops!" is technically correct, but it's a useless measure if it dropped because a million people have been out of work so long they no longer count as unemployed. Splashing simplistic garbage is irresponsible at best, and intentionally misleading at worst. Being a cynical old fart, I suspect the latter is closer to what's going on most of the time.

Politicians are the other "skew the numbers" offenders. Obama is as bad as any we've had. "We created or saved millions of jobs through ARRA." Yeah, right. We postponed public sector job cuts for one budget year, and we created temporary private sector jobs for one budget year. And we racked up $800 billion in new public debt to do it.

We need truth from our press and our politicians, not a bunch of skewed interpretations of the numbers to fit pre-determined courses of action. You'll never learn a damned thing about the game if all you do is watch the cheerleaders.

"Nothing astonishes people so much as common sense and plain dealing."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

[texasredneck]

Look at the bright side. At this rate in six months we will have full employment and will not need QE3