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Old 03-04-2011, 12:32 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
31,767 posts, read 28,769,662 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oz in SC View Post
What some of us are saying is that the figures used by the BLS are a little...fudged.
Have the standards changed from just a few years ago?
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Old 03-04-2011, 12:34 PM
 
Location: North Cackelacky....in the hills.
19,567 posts, read 21,838,666 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EinsteinsGhost View Post
Have the standards changed from just a few years ago?
No,the figures have always been fudged...when you invent new businesses to add jobs you are fudging the figures.
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Old 03-04-2011, 12:35 PM
 
Location: Montgomery County, MD
293 posts, read 569,432 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zoomzoom3 View Post
LOL riiiiiiiiiight

The unemployment rate is dropping because people are giving up and leaving the workforce altogether.
...we have a winner! +1
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Old 03-04-2011, 01:08 PM
 
4,176 posts, read 6,323,629 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EinsteinsGhost View Post
Have the standards changed from just a few years ago?
The standards may not have been changed, but the BLS numbers mean nothing. They're so manipulated and doctored that they don't give us any accurate information.

It's so bad that even Rick Santelli said the numbers are meaningless. Think about it: does it feel like things are getting better? Just look around; things are continuing to decline.
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Old 03-04-2011, 01:08 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
31,767 posts, read 28,769,662 times
Reputation: 12341
Quote:
Originally Posted by oz in SC View Post
No,the figures have always been fudged...when you invent new businesses to add jobs you are fudging the figures.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LIS123 View Post
The standards may not have been changed, but the BLS numbers mean nothing. They're so manipulated and doctored that they don't give us any accurate information.

It's so bad that even Rick Santelli said the numbers are meaningless. Think about it: does it feel like things are getting better? Just look around; things are continuing to decline.
Then stop crying about it as if it were a new phenomenon. And talk in terms that is more meaningful.
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Old 03-04-2011, 01:10 PM
 
16,956 posts, read 16,716,274 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oz in SC View Post
No,the figures have always been fudged...when you invent new businesses to add jobs you are fudging the figures.
Ding! Ding! Ding ! Winner !
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Old 03-04-2011, 01:10 PM
 
Location: SE Arizona - FINALLY! :D
20,460 posts, read 26,282,885 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oz in SC View Post
No,the figures have always been fudged...when you invent new businesses to add jobs you are fudging the figures.
Well there are things you can't KNOW for sure - at least not without DRASTICALLY increasing the bureaucracy and the paperwork involved in starting a busines (and the government reporting about it). This is true for ALL the government statistics compiled by the BLS. They take surveys to get a pulse on how many people are being laid or got job or gave up looking & the same kind of thing for job creation. They don't go out there and ASK every person if they've started a new business or whatever. They use the tools & techniques that they have available and have proven reliable in the past to give a pretty accurate picture. These are never expected to be 100% accurate but rather to give a pretty accurate "educated guess" - and after over 100 years the BLS is pretty good at it. It's NOT 100% accurate, but to be so would be HUGELY complicated and expensive (and folks complain about the cost of government NOW) - and by and large the techniques used have (over time) shown themselves to be pretty accurate and very useful and cost effective.

And it doesn't matter whether the Administration is Democratic or Republican, the BLS folks just continue to do what they've always done - and will continue to do - collect their samples & provide their best estimate of what the data says.

Ken
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Old 03-04-2011, 01:29 PM
 
16,956 posts, read 16,716,274 times
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The February unemployment rate is 8.9 percent. The broader Bureau of Labor Statistics U6 jobless rate is 15.9 percent.

However, we need 127,000 new jobs every month to keep up with population growth. At this rate it will take 11.2 years to get back to full employment.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/les-leopold/main-street-goes-to-war-a_b_831242.html
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Old 03-04-2011, 02:18 PM
 
Location: North Cackelacky....in the hills.
19,567 posts, read 21,838,666 times
Reputation: 2519
Quote:
Originally Posted by EinsteinsGhost View Post
Then stop crying about it as if it were a new phenomenon. And talk in terms that is more meaningful.
Psst I am....use the raw data.

But then Rah rahs come along yelling about how great it is that the BLS figures show we suddenly have 500,000 less unemployed...
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Old 03-04-2011, 02:58 PM
 
Location: Dallas, TX
31,767 posts, read 28,769,662 times
Reputation: 12341
Quote:
Originally Posted by oz in SC View Post
Psst I am....use the raw data.

But then Rah rahs come along yelling about how great it is that the BLS figures show we suddenly have 500,000 less unemployed...
Nah, you spend way too much time complaining about "fudging", knowing very well that it ain't something new. If you really cared for talking about issues, just work with numbers available.
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