Last week, we had the inexplicable unemployment numbers (drop of .3% despite only 114,000 new jobs being created and less jobs created in September and August than the months before). This week, we have weekly jobless claims "plunging" to 339,000. Things must be getting better? Right?
As Dow Jones reported: “A Labor Department economist said one large state didn't report additional quarterly figures as expected, accounting for a substantial part of the decrease.”
The wording of that statement, along with the accompanying headlines, left the impression that one major state didn’t turn in its figures.
Here's what actually happened. The state did report weekly jobless claims but did not process and report its quarterly claims number (when many people have to reapply for benefits for technical reasons as opposed to being newly laid off). As a result, there wasn't the expected spike in claims that normally happens at the start of the quarter.
Update: That state was none other than California, the 8th largest economy in the world, not to mention s state with high unemployment.
The fact of the matter is the economy is virtually stagnant. We already know economic growth is slower than 2011, which itself was slower than 2010. We already know that there are fewer people working in the United States than when the President took office. The job market is not bleeding, but it's not improving much either. It's barely (questionably) keeping up with population growth.
But hey...nothing to see here. Forward!
