Sept numbers don't smell right - WSJ

[DrLeftover]

Imagine a country where challenging the ruling authorities—questioning, say, a piece of data released by central headquarters—would result in mobs of administration sympathizers claiming you should feel embarrassed and labeling you a fool, or worse.



Soviet Russia perhaps? Communist China? Nope, that would be the United States right now, when a person (like me, for instance) suggests that a certain government datum (like the September unemployment rate of 7.8%) doesn't make sense.



Unfortunately for those who would like me to pipe down, the 7.8% unemployment figure released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) last week is downright implausible. And that's why I made a stink about it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...8046260406091012.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

 

[Evil Eye]

If that's the way those numbers are recorded, aren't the always wrong?

(Or at least not very trustworthy?)

 

[TommyTooter]

If that's the way those numbers are recorded, aren't the always wrong?

(Or at least not very trustworthy?)

yup and the inaccuracy is compounded by the people whose unemployment benefits run out and they still don't have a job. they simply disappear from the calculations altogether.