Zerohedge,“Data Massaging Continues: Initial Claims Tumble To 339K Lowest Since 2008, Far Below Lowest Expectation”:

After expectations of a rebound in initial claims from 367K last week (naturally revised higher to 369K), to 370K (with the lowest of all sellside expectations at 355K), the past week mysteriously, yet so very unsurprisingly in the aftermath of the fudged BLS unemployment number, saw claims tumble to a number that is so ridiculous not even CNBC’s Steve Liesman bothered defending it, or 339K. Ironically, not even the Labor Department is defending it: it said that “one large state didn’t report some quarterly figures.” Great, but what was reported was a headline grabbing number that is just stunning for reelection purposes.

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Needless to say, Not Seasonally Adjusted initial claims jumped by 26K to 327K in the past week but who’s counting. Finally, what is the reason for ongoing QEternity if the employment situation is now back to normal[?] […]  [I]n completely ignored news […] the US trade deficit in August rose by 4.1% to $44.2 billion, on expectations of a deterioration to $44.0 billion. Then again nobody talks about the US trade deficit during presidential debates so all good here.

This is becoming not just surreal and ridiculous — it’s downright frightening. Job numbers “calculated” absent a major state put out to suggest an economic boomlet, all so the mainstream press will dutifully repeat the positive headline and Joe Biden can point to the massaged numbers during tonight’s debate with the hope that most Americans aren’t paying careful enough attention to the compromised information they’re being fed to separate the facts from the fabrications.  Because lord knows the mainstream media isn’t going to dig into the numbers now.  Such reporting is for later — when numbers are quietly and unceremoniously revised to hew closer to reality.

At least, that’s the plan.

Luckily, nobody listens to the media or gets their information from it — at least no information that they take to be fact, at least not consciously — so, you know, relax. Take a deep breath already.