What if the Numbers Were Accurate?

 

 

 

The Foundation

"There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily." --George Washington

 

For the Record

 

"The more you drill down into the November jobs report, the worse it looks. ... 1. The two-tenths drop in the unemployment rate was because people gave up looking for work. The labor force participation rate fell to 63.6% from 63.8% in October. If it had just held steady since then, the unemployment rate would be back over 8%. Indeed, if the LFP rate was just where it was in November 2011, the unemployment rate would be 8.3%. Some 542,000 Americans left the labor force just last month. 2. If labor force participation was at its January 2009 level, the unemployment rate would be a whopping 10.7%. ... 3. In November, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 4 cents to $23.63. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have risen by 1.7%. Unfortunately, inflation -- as measured by the consumer price index -- has risen by 2.2% over the past year, meaning average hourly earnings have fallen by 0.5% in real terms. 4. The number of long-term unemployed remains at sky-high 40.1%, the same as in August. 5. Since the beginning of this year, employment growth has averaged 151,000 per month, about the same as the average monthly job gain of 153,000 in 2011. At that pace, the U.S. would not return to pre-Great Recession employment levels until after 2025.... Bottom line: The November jobs report showed job creation far too slow to get the labor market back to pre-recession levels or boost wages. Faster, please." --American Enterprise Institute's James Pethokoukis