Washington Times: Obama is a Liar on the Unemployment Numbers --> Cooking the Books

[festeringZit]

EDITORIAL: Obama’s bogus jobs data

Congress should investigate cooked employment books





The White House hyped the news Friday that January payrolls had risen by 243,000. The hitch is the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also dropped 1.2 million from the calculated workforce. Somehow this net loss of a million workers in a single month was transformed into an improvement in the unemployment rate. As the old saying goes, figures don’t lie, but liars can figure.
“Job growth was widespread,” the BLS reported, but most Americans sense that something isn’t quite right with the numbers. The most important change was the deep decline in the workforce. While the overall population jumped an 1.6 million in January, the workforce declined a record-setting 1.2 million. This figure represents those who out of sheer frustration or for other reasons have dropped out of what the government defines as the active labor pool. They are worse than simply unemployed; they are both jobless and hopeless.
The good news for Obama administration statisticians is that these unfortunates don’t factor into the official unemployment rate, which only counts those thought to be looking for work. So while five people drop out of the system in despair for every new job created, the official unemployment rate declines and the White House enjoys a good news day.
“The recovery is speeding up,” President Obama declared. However, the broader measures tell a different story. The employment-to-population ratio, the most comprehensive jobs number, remained flatlined at 58.5 percent, around where is has been for at least a year. The number lacking jobs has likewise remained steady at 41.5 percent. The overall participation rate, the percentage making up the workforce in the population, accelerated an already steep decline to a 30-year low of 63.7 percent. In short, the recovery is not speeding up - people are simply giving up.
The participation rate is a subjective measure and highly subject to manipulation. The lower it goes and the more people are dropped from the unemployment equation, the better the numbers will look for the White House. This figure has been dropping sharply since Mr. Obama took office. Last month, an analysis at the Zero Hedge financial website noted that by extending the logic of reporting progressively fewer labor-force participants, “America will officially have no unemployed when the Labor Force Participation rate hits 58.5 percent, which should be just before the presidential election.” Maybe that’s the plan.
A year ago, there were 99 million people either officially unemployed or otherwise not working, and the official unemployment rate was 9.1 percent. Now, unemployment reported by the government is down to 8.3 percent, but the number without jobs has topped 100 million. The disconnect between increasing joblessness in America and the rosy White House official statistics should be the subject of a congressional investigation. Something does not add up.
The Washington Times

 

[bodyforlife]

Thanks Zit. I just forwarded this to 20 Liberal acquaintances. They said they are tired of the lies of the Obama administration and are embarrassed they voted for him. I told them that he fooled a lot of people so don't beat yourselves up too bad. They vowed they would make sure not to make the same mistake again and said "fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, SHAME ON ME!" I commended them for being so smart and told them to make sure and pass on their new found knowledge to all of their friends. They said they would. It made me happy.

 

[festeringZit]

Thanks Zit. I just forwarded this to 20 Liberal acquaintances. They said they are tired of the lies of the Obama administration and are embarrassed they voted for him. I told them that he fooled a lot of people so don't beat yourselves up too bad. They vowed they would make sure not to make the same mistake again and said "fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, SHAME ON ME!" I commended them for being so smart and told them to make sure and pass on their new found knowledge to all of their friends. They said they would. It made me happy.

No problem. Too bad most of the liberals on here are so brain-dead, no matter how corrupt he and his administration is, they'll keep prancing away on
the Obama cheer-leading squad.

 

[bodyforlife]

On a serious note, sure, I can give a little credit. But to be so partisan that you jump up and down and cheer as though this is some incredible improvement...well, that speaks for itself. I think the only chart people should be looking at is the U6. It gives the true picture, and that is that we have essentially shown practically no improvement. Which is why the only comeback by Liberals is that the "anointed one" saved us all from a complete catastrophe. And that's nothing more than conjecture.....just sayin'

 

[vitterd]

Speaking of cooking the books. No fucking way BFL has 20 liberal friends....no way he has 20 friends period.

 

[SmallDaddy]

Thanks Zit. I just forwarded this to 20 Liberal acquaintances. They said they are tired of the lies of the Obama administration and are embarrassed they voted for him. I told them that he fooled a lot of people so don't beat yourselves up too bad. They vowed they would make sure not to make the same mistake again and said "fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, SHAME ON ME!" I commended them for being so smart and told them to make sure and pass on their new found knowledge to all of their friends. They said they would. It made me happy.

I betcha its a true story that you made up

 

[steaktartar]

Speaking of cooking the books. No fucking way BFL has 20 liberal friends....no way he has 20 friends period.

haha...that was actually funny

 

[barman]

STEAK, we invite at least a One Week moratorium on normal PolyPub wackity-wack.....replace the space in your brain with Imaginary late night visits from Madonna - The Queen of Pop (my cork)

 

[flashmo]

This article exposes the other jobs thread as being a liar and a fraud...The proof is right here in this article

 

[bodyforlife]

haha...that was actually funny

Until, of course, you realize where I live and come to the conclusion that unless someone was a hermit it would be impossible for that not to be the case. At which point you would know it's just another retarded comment by the forum's version of Pee Wee Herman hno:

 

[vitterd]

BFL....I don't doubt you know 20 people...hell I bet you even consider them friends...but based on your awful sense of humor, your know it all attitude, and your overall personality....there is no way they count you as one of their friends. No fucking way.

And by the way....sending emails to those pretending to be dems at fox news...does not count as friends.

 

[festeringZit]

The inconvenient truth about the unemployment rate



By Neal Boortz
Apparently we had a little fun with the listeners last Friday. My show was a “best of,” and contained some conversation about a previous report on unemployment. Some listeners reveled in telling me that I had the figures all wrong. I’m thrilled we gave these listeners a chance wear the cloak of moral superiority --- right up until they discovered the show was taped. I guess it was enjoyable while it lasted.
Actually, the news was that the rate dropped to 8.3% for the month of January. The ObamaMedia is rejoicing because this is the lowest unemployment level in nearly three years – the last time we saw an unemployment rate at this level was February 2009, right after Dear Ruler took office.
But the ObamaMedia does the public a disservice by stopping right there. There is more to the story. The amplified facts, however, doesn’t fit the ObamaMedia’s agenda of ensuring another four years of Caesar Obammus in the White House.
So what’s the rest of the story, Boortz? Well … I’m going to tell you! The fact is that there is a lot more to the unemployment rate that meets the eye. So here are some inconvenient facts about our unemployment situation.

• First .. .did you realize that up until the Obama administration the Labor Department largely depended on state governments for each state’s specific employment statistics? Obama decided that this function should be removed from the states and centralized under his administrative guidance. Now here’s a guy who went from “jobs created” to “jobs created or saved” as he tried to convince the American people that his stimulus plan was working … and now he finds it necessary to put the responsibility of developing unemployment figures in the White House?

• In January, 1.2 million people dropped out of the labor force in one month! This is the largest absolute jump in 'Persons Not In Labor Force' on record...and biggest percentage jump in 30 years. (Zero Hedge). If these people, or a significant portion of them, were in the workforce without jobs the unemployment figure would be higher than 8.3%. So now you’re left with having to figure out whether or not you believe this many people actually said “the hell with it” in one month. Many experts are quite skeptical about this figure.

• The report Friday said 12.8 million people remained unemployed – 43% of them for more than six months – and that another 8.2 million part-time workers couldn’t find full-time employment. (LA Times)
• With the latest job gains, total payrolls in the nation stand about 5.6 million less than at the start of the recession in late 2007. (LA Times) Our population is growing month by month … yet we now have 5.6 million fewer jobs? Does this sound like a successful presidency?

• If the size of the U.S. labor force as a share of the total population – people with jobs and people trying to find jobs -- was the same as it was when Barack Obama took office—65.7 percent then vs. 63.7 percent today—the U-3 unemployment rate would be 11.0 percent . (James Pethokoukis)

Just to put that in perspective, this means that since Obama too office, approximately 4.7 million people are no longer being counted towards the unemployment rate.

• But let’s not go all the way back to January 2009. In January 2011, the unemployment rate was 9.1 percent with a participation rate of 64.2 percent. If that were the participation rate today, the unemployment rate would be 8.9 percent, instead of 8.3 percent. As an analysis from Hamilton Place Strategies concludes, “Most of the shift of the past year is due not to the improvement in the labor market, but the continued drop in participation in the labor force.” (James Pethokoukis)

• Then there’s the broader, U-6 measure of unemployment which includes the discouraged plus part-timers who wish they had full time work. That unemployment rate is still a sky-high 15.1 percent. (James Pethokoukis)

So if you add up the number of people who are actually unemployed in the ObamaEconomy (12.7 million), the 4.7 million who have given up and dropped out of the labor force and then those who are underemployed, can’t find full-time work (10.5 million) …this means that there are about 28 million working age adults who can’t find work in the ObamaEconomy.
Like I said, don’t depend on the ObamaMedia to report these facts. But the fact is that Obama’s “success” is built upon the struggles of Americans who have given up or frustrated in the current economy.


http://www.boortz.com/weblogs/nealz-nuze/2012/feb/06/inconvenient-truth-about-unemployment-rate/

 

[akphidelt]

Why would they include people not looking for jobs in the unemployment rate that shows people looking for jobs who can't find them? Should we start including children and retirees also?