Comments (13)

1. 

   Squid says October 18, 2012 at 11:02 am

   Oops. Too late.
2. 

   Squid says October 18, 2012 at 11:03 am

   Am I the only one who sees the bitter irony of a bunch of morons who really ought to be unemployed under-reporting the number of their fellow Americans who are unemployed?

   TANJ!
3. 

   leigh says October 18, 2012 at 11:06 am

   TANFJ! Squid.
4. 

   cranky-d says October 18, 2012 at 11:22 am

   I have a very hard time believing that they believe their own bullshit when they drag out the stats they have carefully pruned. Somewhere inside they know they are promulgating crap, but they have to bury that thought lest they be thought of as racist and phoby as they claim the right is.
5. 

   BigBangHunter says October 18, 2012 at 11:49 am

   - Soooooo, does this mean that 7.8% is, errm…..uuuhhh…..what was the question again?

   - Actually the numbers would eventually even out no matter how they temporarily gamed them. Its just they were hoping to slide into next month before the truth reared its ugly head.

   - Should make Monday night even more interesting in view of all the chest thumping Waffle ears did last week.
6. 

   TaiChiWawa says October 18, 2012 at 12:19 pm

   The weekly claims figure has averaged somewhere around 375,000 – 380,000 over the last year. The rule of thumb is that a reading under 400,000 means hiring is outpacing layoffs. But this assumes a typical hiring rate and I doubt that’s the case in the current economy. If the figures do indicate job growth, it is very modest growth.
7. 

   BigBangHunter says October 18, 2012 at 12:26 pm

   - The only figure you need to look at is 160,000 jobs per month. That’s the number of new workers added. If you don’t keep pace with that simple metric unemployment AND job growth is negative.
8. 

   dicentra says October 18, 2012 at 12:31 pm

   Somewhere inside they know they are promulgating crap

   I doubt it’s very deep inside. If you accept the premise that “facts” and “statistics” are constructs invented by Whitey to keep the brothas down, and that ALL statistics have been lies from the foundation of the world, then all they’re doing is playing the game the way everyone else plays it.

   Truth and accuracy were never the goal: the appearance of truthiness is, because hey, it’s just a battle of narratives anyway, and may the most powerful narrative win.

   All in service of a win for Our Team, and isn’t that what life’s about?
9. 

   BigBangHunter says October 18, 2012 at 12:42 pm

   …..isn’t that what life’s about?

   - Unfortunately for the “team” life apparently doesn’t give a shit about intentions and goes about its relentless steamroller reality happily ignoring statistics, appearances, and narratives.

   - Life’s funny that way. Campaigns are lost that way. People simply get tired of being lied too.
10. 

    BigBangHunter says October 18, 2012 at 12:47 pm

    BTW – Gallup: R 51% , O 45%

    - Hows that narrative working out?
11. 

    BigBangHunter says October 18, 2012 at 12:56 pm

    - Oh, correction – R 52%, O 45%
12. 

    William says October 18, 2012 at 1:26 pm

    Zing, squid.

    On the other hand, Newsweek is finally leaving our grocery shelves.
13. 

    Slartibartfast says October 18, 2012 at 2:06 pm

    One of the older tricks in the accounting book:

    1) Remove expensive item from shelf and stick it in your office.
    2) Take sales on that item to make your monthly/quarterly numbers look good
    3) Collect your bonus
    4) Hope that when item is returned after the end of the accounting period, sales will pick up enough next period to even things out.

    I think there’s some relationship, here.