I was mildly reluctant to post on the jobs report, *because* it’s bad.

Because if we’re being completely honest about it, the jobs reports have been good news – well, better news than usual – for the administration. I’m not in this gig to make life easier for the administration, you grok? – Mind you, they totally deserve the heartburn… but if I’m not going to note the spate of good reports once they started showing up, then I should let the odd bad report slide, right?  That’s what some of the folks on the Left would argue, and to be fair, I can see that argument.

…Only good GOD, but this was a disaster in real-time.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy created 126,000 new jobs, the lowest since December 2013 and far below analysts’ estimates of 248,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 5.5%.

They also revised previous reports for this quarter downward by 69K jobs.  Even then I wouldn’t be bringing this up, except that it’s going to affect the election calculus a bit.  Then again, everything does, these days.

7 thoughts on “I was mildly reluctant to post on the jobs report, *because* it’s bad.”

  1. The only explanation for unemployment remaining static is that it’s still just measuring the number of people out of work who are still looking. The ones who have given up? They no longer count…
    .
    Mew

      1. Y’know .. at that point, they’re welfare recipients ..
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        I would *imagine*, bureaucrats being involved, and bureaucrats – as a species – being incapable of not documenting things, that there’s a government report somewhere that shows the number of welfare recipients over time ..
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        I wonder what that graph, mapped to the employment graph, would look like ..
        .
        Mew

        1. Match the graph to the population growth as well and you have somethig with real information. Not good news, mind you, but real informative.

        2. I couldn’t venture what the percentage is, but it’s far from 100%.
          I’m currently looking for employment, but am not counted in the statistics, nor do I receive welfare.
          Lots of people who voluntarily left the labor force for any length of time, and people who are trying to break into the labor force for the first time, are not counted by official statistics. Few, if any of them receive welfare.

  2. So, the economy still sucks, despite all of those assurances that “things are getting better”? I’m shocked, SHOCKED I tell you!

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