Analysis: Good economic news something of a mirage [View All]

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The unemployment rate drops. Productivity grows. The trade deficit shrinks. Sounds great, right? Not so fast.

Borrowing radio broadcaster Paul Harvey's signature saying: let's hear the rest of the story.

Some seemingly good economic numbers can be something of a mirage masking weaknesses in the national economy.

Let's take the unemployment rate, which dipped to 5 percent in April, from 5.1 percent in March. A closer look reveals that the decline in unemployment is not as good as it looks at first blush. The drop came as the number of people holding part-time jobs for economic reasons swelled to 5.2 million in April, up sharply from 4.4 million a year earlier.


Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gtRH5N9o3AHbwiCPc-p3VvANtkTgD90IRIDG0