- On Friday, Oct. 5th, we got the jobs report showing the first unemployment reading below 8% despite only routine and mediocre job creation. I won't bore people again on how I think that manipulation was managed.
- Just last Thursday, Oct. 11th, we learned that the number of people filing new unemployment claims fell to 339,000 - the lowest number since 2008!! Really? Wow - said all of the economists who expected the number to tick up or remain unchanged from the previous level of 367,000. Turns out, they left CALIFORNIA out of the calculation! I heard that when asked why they left CA out, the guy at the Bureau of Labor Statistics said they didn't leave them out. When pressed about why the CA was not included in the report, the guy said because they didn't get the CA data in time. California since insists the data were submitted. Regardless of what happened, the mission was accomplished - the headlines screamed about the lowest level of jobless claims in 4 years.
- The latest development was Friday (Oct 12) when more glorious headlines declared that the consumer sentiment index, while expected to fall slightly, shot up to levels not seen since 2007 before the recession.
That was truly a remarkable stream of economic data showing a clear, unmistakable turn-around in the economy. Stocks must have soared! Actually, they went down overall. Apparently, after initial spikes, the aggregate of people with money on the line have come to the consensus that these numbers are wrong at best and complete manipulations at worst. We'll see if Obama declares victory with these numbers in Tuesday's debate. While they may not describe a bustling economy, they make a better case for Obama than any real metrics can.
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