Someone explain this to me (Unemployment)

[Shoedogg]

Bush claims 308,000 jobs were added in March.

The Labor Department says unemployment edged up from 5.6% in February to 5.7% in March.

Call me crazy, but that just doesn't make any sense. Either Bush's numbers are wrong or the Labor Department is wrong (want to wager on which one it is??)

I'll be the first to admit I'm no jobs expert, economist OR math whiz, but I just don't see how you ADD jobs and unemployment goes UP.

[AndyP]

1. more people STARTED looking for jobs

The unemployment numbers don't include people who are pissed off and just quit looking for a job. This just means that people entered the work force and can't find a job.

[BOHICA06]

2. the Unemplyment Rate ....

is determined by survey - of individuals 16 years of age or older - they are asked: Did you work or did you look for work the week of the 12th.

Those that say yes - no matter how few hours they worked are counted as "the workforce" for the month and are put in the denominator of the equation.

Those that worked are the numerator.

Methodology has be consistant for lots of years - looks like more folks are looking for employment during the week of the 12th.

[lastknowngood]

3. here ya go heres the real stuff

http://www.urbansurvival.com/week.htm

[Trajan]

4. I frankly dont see these jobs ....

Where are they ? ...

EVERYTHING I have heard was about LAYOFFS ..... not hiring ...

Someone said they may have added the no-longer striking grocery workers in california in their ranks ... this is hardly an honest measurement if that is the case ....

300,000 jobs ? .. I dont believe it ... Show me ...

Hell: I doubt that a single job was created ABOVE AND BEYOND those that were lost in the same time period ...

THese fuckers are utter liars, and NEVER should they be taken at their word ...

Show me ....

[Ready4Change]

5. Summer jobs?

Could this bump in the numbers be high school kids getting an early jump on the summer jobs market?

[AndyP]

7. possible

Just remember simple math: A big negative number plus a relatively small positive number is still a big negative number.

[Paradise]

6. more jobs lost than gained!!! n/t

[kalian]

8. Lest we forget about underemployment....

how many people with degrees in IT related fields are now working
as Wal_mart cashiers...? :shrug:
We'll never know the truth...these numbers are there to be fudged
anyway that the ruling elites want them to be. Don't forget that
most of these so-called "new jobs" might be part-time jobs for
people that cannot make ends meet with their primary job...

There are MANY ways that these numbers can be looked at but NONE
paint the rosey picture that the spinmeisters are painting on the
boob tube.

[smirkymonkey]

9. Does this number possibly include

"outsourced" jobs in the number? Because it certainly doesn't seem like this country is prospering.

Also, it's possible that 308,000 shit jobs were created, but 500,000 good jobs were lost.

Are mercenaries included in that number?

[Shoedogg]

10. Found this on another thread:

Of the 308,000 "new" jobs Bush says were created in March:

20,000 returning California grocery workers idled from dispute
47,000 return of striking and locked-out workers
71,000 were EXISTING construction jobs for workers who were idled in February attributed to bad weather.

That's 138,000 jobs that were there in the first place.

[smirkymonkey]

11. Good info to have!

Thanks! Do you know if they calculate outsourced jobs into that number? If so, I suppose that would make up the balance, because all I see are more and more massive layoffs.

[fortyfeetunder]

12. A probable Pug perspective

What the publicized unemployment rate suggests that people who aren't officially looking for work (that is, collecting unemployment bennies) are in the Pug perspective, too lazy to look.