Math Are Hard
I’m confuzzled. Looking at the data provided
Manufacturing employment fell by 52,000 — the first time since September losses were less than 100,000 — after shrinking by 131,000 in June. This was probably due to the reopening of General Motors and Chrysler assembly plants after bankruptcy closures.
Payrolls in construction industries slipped 76,000 after falling 86,000, likely reflecting spending on infrastructure projects from the government’s $787 billion stimulus package and a modest pickup in ground breaking for new homes.
In the service-providing sector, 119,000 workers were laid off, and the goods-producing industries purged 128,000 positions.
Education and health services continued to add jobs, with payrolls increasing 17,000 in July after rising 37,000 in June. Government employment increased 7,000 after slipping 48,000 in June.
How do they then state this:
With fewer workers being laid off, the unemployment rate eased to 9.4 percent in July from 9.5 percent the prior month, the Labor Department said, the first time the jobless rate had fallen since April 2008.
More people were unemployed in July than June. So how does the rate go down to 9.4 from 9.5?
Biz, Politics | Mr. Bingley | 
August 7, 2009 9:12 am
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Ah. So it’s a shell game. Hundreds of thousands left the labor force. So have the welfare rolls swelled?
796,000 was the number removed from the total workforce for July. This is normal for BLS to do, but if Bush were in office that number would be getting a lot of play and there would be no “good news” BS about any of this. 796,000 people giving up on finding a job is not a good thing except in bizarro world. In other words, where we are now.
Yep, it’s a shell game, although there is some good news here.
The only good news I personally see is that I’m still employed and will be for the foreseeable future.
*knocking on wood until my knuckles bleed*