Look, you can cook the numbers until you're blue in the face

Current Events » in reply to I do NOT believe that number. Unemployment must be guaged as the percentage of persons of a certain age group in good health

Tom Brosz — 3/28/2004 7:44:01 AM (archived)

Yeah, yeah. Not the "right kind" of jobs. Not the "right people" working. Not "manufacturing" jobs. You can move the bar until it's a blur.

The point is, the unemployment rate is what unemployment has been measured by for years. Clinton enjoyed rates lower than 4 percent. Nobody was slicing these numbers down the middle to see what made them tick, like for example vast numbers of people being hired on by ballooning dot.coms and their support industries.

I understand the desperation--it's pretty much the only economic statistic left for the Democrats to hang the "bad economy" rap on.

I'd bet that if five million jobs showed up between now and November, they wouldn't be "good" jobs, or they would be jobs "forced" on people, or something like that.

The whole thread (13 posts)

What's happening with the economy, 4th qtr... - Tom Brosz - 3/26/2004 5:20:31 AM
- All true, but the job situation is still very bad. If it does not improve, Bush will lose the election. (n/t) - David F Mayer - 3/26/2004 10:12:07 PM
  - The unemployment rate is 5.6 percent - Tom Brosz - 3/27/2004 2:59:27 AM
    - I do NOT believe that number. Unemployment must be guaged as the percentage of persons of a certain age group in good health - David F Mayer - 3/28/2004 4:06:38 AM
      - Look, you can cook the numbers until you're blue in the face - Tom Brosz - 3/28/2004 7:44:01 AM
        
        I am not interested in "cooking numbers", but the fact remains that unemployment is quite high. - David F Mayer - 3/28/2004 9:07:18 PM
        
        the fact remains - Tom Brosz - 3/29/2004 3:56:14 AM
        
        Not at all. It gives an INVARIANT way of looking at the picture. - David F Mayer - 3/29/2004 5:35:03 PM
        
        Statistics - Tom Brosz - 3/30/2004 4:32:22 AM
    - Does that include the people who have stopped looking? - Mary Anne - 3/27/2004 1:42:26 PM
      - re: people who have stopped looking - Tom Brosz - 3/27/2004 9:01:20 PM
        
        I have no idea. - Mary Anne - 3/28/2004 5:25:14 PM
        
        Marie Antoinette's serving cake again... - Fox - 3/28/2004 4:52:08 AM

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