America's Happy Talk Media: No Jobs Is Good News

[Donnachaidh]

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/dave-lindorff/34136/americas-happy-talk-media-no-jobs-is-good-news

The propagandists in the corporate media are scratching their heads trying to figure out how to paint a rosy picture using the shockingly bad employment news out of the Labor Department today.

Here's the raw data:

The official unemployment rate fell from 9.4% to 9.0%, when the prediction had been that it was going to move up slightly to 9.5%

:snip:

Associated Press: "The unemployment rate dropped sharply last month to 9 percent, based on a government survey that found that more than a half-million people found work."

More at the link --

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JoePhilly]

2. Ahh for the good old days when it was 10.2%!!!

If it goes up, its bad news and the administration is to blame.

If it goes down, this is also bad news and the administration is to blame.

[northernlights]

4. it all depends on whether it goes down because more people found work than lost it...

or if it goes down because more long-term unemployed people gave up...and stopped being counted.

Sadly, it apparently is the latter. There were not nearly enough jobs created to start bringing employment levels up. And white washing it doesn't change a thing.

[JoePhilly]

5. That's why rather than knee jerk on the movement in one month, you look at the trend.

And I would also suggest that the drop of .4% might INCLUDE some who stopped looking, but not all of it.

But beyond that, many Americans are watching that number. And the press has loved to describe the unemployment number as "close to double digit" with the basic intent of ensuring that the American people's outlook remains bleak regardless of what happens.

So some will knee jerk on this each month. If it goes up, its bad. If it goes down, its also bad.

From my perspective, we've come down from 10.2% to 9% in the last year and 2 months. When the stimulus passed in Feb 2009, unemployment was at about 8.4%.

If you watch trends, rather than monthly changes, most would be encouraged.

[northernlights]

9. the trend is not anything to get excited about

It doesn't matter what *you* suggest. The numbers are based on household surveys, not your opinion or mine.

The fact is that for some years now there have not been enough jobs created in any given month to provide for 1. those who were dumped and/or 2. new graduates. That is the trend and it continues.

Watching the trends in my industry -- health care -- is anything but encouraging. When I started in the Med lab Tech program 2 years ago there was 100% employment. The federal government still claims 14% annual job growth. The reality is that hospitals are dumping entire departments and contracting back short staffs for lower pay without benefits, closing all open reqs and not replacing techs that leave. That is a direct result of health insurance "reform."

The hospital where I'm doing clinicals is building a replacement facility with fewer beds and will downsize its staff when they move there. Recently a tech was unable to come in during a blizzard. I overheard management saying that she should have come the night before and stayed in a hotel -- at her own expense. In other words, if she wants to keep her job she should have either 1. risked her own life or 2. worked an 8 hour day for 6 hours of wages.

In the meantime, I took on $35K in student loans based on government and university advisor lies. Along with 2 other classmates who have also already lost our retirement savings, we face losing homes and any hope of retiring.

I am grateful only that my veterinarian gave me a ticket out of here. If things get bad enough I have enough of an opiate sedative to have a pleasant melatonin high before sliding into a coma.

That is the state of our economy.

[JoePhilly]

11. My wife is in heathcare ... she tells me that her company is doing very well ...

they provide IT solutions to hospitals. Their business is growing, and they are hiring.

And what ... you think you are the only person who took on student loans?? Both my wife and I did (much more than 40k), and we've paid them off. Apparently what we were told were not "lies".

My point there however is that ANECDOTAL stories, your anecdotes, or my anecdotes, do not describe the actual STATE OF OUR ECONOMY.

What describes the state of our economy are the VARIOUS trend data, in the aggregate.

By the way, if you read the OP, and then my response to it, you will notice that I did not "get all excited" about the drop to 9%. It was the OP who got all excited about it's being a negative event. I'm pointing out the knee jerk.

I see the overall trend as moving in the right direction, but with lots more still to do.

What I reject, are those who see ANY movement in the unemployment rate, up or down, as being a negative event.

Every move down is good to see, especially when for over a year or so now, we see a trend in that direction.

[northernlights]

12. well I'm glad this shitty economy is going so well for you

but surely you are aware that providing IT to healthcare companies, and providing actual healthcare are 2 different things. And a company doing well might be doing well for the people in administration...at the cost of the people who actually deliver the goods.

The hospitals in my area are laying off healthcare providers -- nurses and lab technicians. That is a fact.
There are hospitals all over the country laying off healthcare providers. That is a fact. Nurses out of work all over the place.

Hell, when they tried to set up our clinical training, hospitals all over the state that *used* to take in students were refusing, or taking only 1 or 2 where they used to take 4. That is a fact. MLT training programs around the country have closed in the last year -- that is also a fact that I discovered when I looked into transferring out of here. Probably half the programs I initially looked into were gone a year later.

As to paying off your student loans, you don't say *when* you and your wife took them out. But if you've paid them off, then I have a feeling you didn't take them out anytime recently.

The advisor that lied to me has lied to others. I've overheard them, run into them elsewhere. Some were told the identical lies I was, but fortunately for them they had not yet entered the program. Had the fucking c**t not lied to me about a math test, I would have graduated a year ago without any loans, or with only minimum. She *knew* that at my age this was my last shot at restarting my life and having any possible retirement. But she lied anyway, to boost enrollment. And she's lied to young people too -- one classmate will graduate with far more loans than the salary can possibly justify. But he's too young to know the real cost of living and know how much loan the salary can support.

As to my life being ANECDOTAL, well it may be fucking ANECDOTAL to you, but to me, ITS THE END OF THE FUCKING ROAD. I'M NOT GOING TO WORK MY FUCKING ASS OFF -- ASSUMING I EVEN GET A JOB -- UNTIL I FUCKING KEEL OVER. This was my last chance at resaving for some sort of retirement. That chance is gone. I will not spend my golden years working my fucking ass off, nor will I spend them under a bridge.

Oh, and welcome to ignore, PhillyJoe.

[treestar]

6. Then why don't we use a figure that counts them.

How do we know they've given up, too? Maybe some of them found a job. Either way, we have to know to have accurate figures.

[northernlights]

8. the numbers are based on household surveys

the number that really counts is payroll. They do not want to use that number because that wouldn't fit their happy talk

[MadHound]

3. Worse yet, the media helps the administration cook the books

Pumping up the fact that the "official" unemployment numbers went up, while neglecting the fact that hundreds of thousands of people simply dropped out of the labor force altogether.

[LiberalEsto]

7. Oh boy oh joy oh boy oh joy

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it.

If the economy keeps this up, maybe in 6 or 7 years, when I'm 65, I'll find a part time job!

:party: :woohoo: :applause:

[Jkid]

10. If I can sum this up

The real reason why people are still unemployed: Corporations have figured out that deliberately understaffing stores and factories is more profitable.