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Friday, October 05, 2012

Unemployment Drops To 7.8% One Month Before Election, Former GE CEO Claims Manipulation

By Susan Duclos

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has issued it's monthly unemployment report for September, showing thta unemployment dropped to 7.8 percent, the first time it has been under 8 percent in 44 months. Last month it had dropped to 8.1 percent because 368,000 people had simply left the workforce.

The U6, which is unemployment, underemployment and marginally attached, remains the same as last month at 14.7 percent, according to the Labor Department.

CNBC calls the data in the report "contradictory":

The Bureal of Labor Statistics' nonfarm paryolls report presented a slew of contradictory data points, with the total employment level soaring despite the low net number.

The falling jobless rate had been a function as much of the continued shrinking in the labor force as it was an increase in new positions.

But the government said the total number of workers employed surged by 873,000, the highest one-month jump in 29 years. The total of unemployed people tumbled by 456,000.

The total labor force grew by 418,000, possibly accounting for the relatively modest net level of job growth compared to the total employed. The labor force participation rate, which reflects those working as well as looking for work, edged higher to 63.6 percent but remained around 30-year lows. 
Bryan Preston notes- 114,000 jobs were created, but more than 800,000 said that they found jobs. The numbers aren't meshing. The AP reports many of the jobs the economy added last month were part time. The number of people with part-time jobs who wanted full-time work rose 7.5 percent to 8.6 million, the most since February 2009.

Preston also points to the panel of MSNBC's Morning Joe, scratching their heads over the numbers, saying "The numbers don't make any sense".

[WATCH]


The tweet they refer to at the end of the minute-plus video above, shown below.

Bloomberg reports that former GE CEO Jack Welsh immediately implied, via Twitter,  that the Obama administration ad somehow manipulated the numbers.



Interestingly enough, last night Welsh was predicting this.




Mitt Romney issued a statement in reaction to the jobs report:

This is not what a real recovery looks like. We created fewer jobs in September than in August, and fewer jobs in August than in July, and we’ve lost over 600,000 manufacturing jobs since President Obama took office. If not for all the people who have simply dropped out of the labor force, the real unemployment rate would be closer to 11%. The results of President Obama's failed policies are staggering – 23 million Americans struggling for work, nearly one in six living in poverty and 47 million people dependent on food stamps to feed themselves and their families. The choice in this election is clear. Under President Obama, we’ll get another four years like the last four years. If I’m elected, we will have a real recovery with pro-growth policies that will create 12 million new jobs and rising incomes for everyone.

 Areas still at or above official unemployment rate:

Alabama- 8.5%
Alaska- 7.8%
Arizona- 8.3%
California- 10.6%
Colorado- 8.2%
Connecticut- 9.0%
D.C.- 8.8%
Florida- 8.8%
Georgia- 9.2%
Illinois- 9.1%
Indiana- 8.3%
Kentucky- 8.5%
Michigan- 9.4%
Mississippi- 9.1%
Nevada- 12.1%
New Jersey- 9.9%
New York - 9.1%
North Carolina- 9.7%
Oregon- 8.9%
Pennsylvania- 8.1%
Rhode Island- 10.7%
South Carolina- 9.6%
Tennessee- 8.5%
Washington- 8.6%

Data obtained from Bureau of Labor Statistics on the Local Area Unemployment Statistics page. (Right side)




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