State of the Misinformation

Editors/Staff

http://TheIndependentDaily.com

The Shadow knows... We are officially beyond the pale of economic crisis, as per Obama. Why? Because he has said so, that’s why. What does the data show? Well something else, but data is so messy and confusing and really hard to understand to most Americans. It’s just a lot easier to have our leadership tell us in what state we currently toil. But, for those who can take the time and divert themselves from their Twitter and Facebook postings, a little data can go a long way. Read article...

How good are things in the world of Employment? This is a segment of the last-issued Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report on which the State of the Union “Addressor” professes the absence of Doom and Gloom. Read this segment and think about what it’s saying. To aid you in your analysis, we’ve added italics and comments when appropriate:

“Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rate for adult women (5.0 percent) decreased by 0.2 percentage point in December, while the rates for adult men (5.3 percent), teenagers (16.8 percent), whites (4.8 percent), blacks (10.4 percent), and Hispanics (6.5 percent) showed little change. The jobless rate for Asians, at 4.2 percent (not seasonally adjusted), changed little from a year earlier.”

TID Comment: The Adult Women herein referenced are those who were absorbed by Walmart et al. during this last Holiday season. By the end of January 2015 they will have found their way back out on the streets, in a manner of speaking, and once again joined the ranks of the Un- Under-employed. The Adult Men, of all colors, are of course, just as Unemployed.

“In December, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or longer) was essentially unchanged at 2.8 million and accounted for 31.9 percent of the unemployed. Over the year, the number of long-term unemployed has declined by 1.1 million.

“The civilian labor force participation rate edged down by 0.2 percentage point to 62.7 percent in December. Since April, the participation rate has remained within a narrow range of 62.7 to 62.9 percent. In December, the employment-population ratio was 59.2 percent for the third consecutive month. However, the employment-population ratio is up by 0.6 percentage point over the year.”

TID Comment: Most Americans might read this as good. But when a participation rate edges down, it means that fewer people are participating - Employed. But how can that be? Because more people have dropped off the rolls of the Unemployed. Fairly soon we’ll be able to identify the Unemployed by name alone and future reports by the BLS will stipulate that Bob is still Unemployed but participating. Bob will be thankful for that, but the tens of millions lost - the mathematical flipside of 62.7 percent participating - How much is that class? - that’s right, 37.3 percent will remain Unemployed not matter how they are classified by the BLS.

“The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) was little changed in December at 6.8 million. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job.”

TID Comment: And therefore no longer counted as Unemployed. Hey! They got a job, right? Who cares that it’s part-time stocking shelves at Dollar General: A job’s a job.

“In December, 2.3 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, little changed from a year earlier. (The data are not seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.”

TID Comment: We understand the mantra that if a lie is repeated often enough it will become the truth, having listened carefully throughout the Bush administration, and now through six years of Obama, but saying it is so, does not make it so, particularly to the hordes of those lost in America, on street corners, living in cars, campers and in our parks, or on the edge not knowing if they’ll be able to pay the rent the month coming.

Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of our government? The Shadow do...that’s who.