Unemployment rate falls to 8.8 pct, two-year low

AP Economics ^ | 04-01-2011 | JEANNINE AVERSA

[algernonpj]

...and there’s no inflation (excluding food and energy).

The CPI has been 'enhanced' corrupted by the use of hedonics, substitution and weighting.

[calex59]

Nope, not buying it for a minute. The fix is in. Gallup has the unemployment rate at 10% but the bozo crew keeps dropping it every month. The fact is, you can’t hide unemployment, sooner or later their outrageous figures will meet reality and even the biggest cheerleaders of Bozo will be able to tell the difference between the numbers and the actual amount of people out of work.

[tsowellfan]

I prefer this version:

Companies Add 216,000 Jobs As They Anticipate The Welcomed Deep
Federal Budget Cuts

NEW YORK (CNA) — The unemployment rate fell to a two-year low of 8.8
percent in March, capping the strongest two months of hiring since
before the recession began.

The economy added 216,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said
Friday. Factories and retailers expanded payrolls. Many economists
connect the hiring spree with the recent Bush era tax rate extension
along with the anticipation of possible deep budget cuts now in
negotiation in Washington D.C.

Another month of brisk hiring provided the latest sign that the
economy is strengthening nearly three months after the Republicans
took over Congress.

Private employers, the backbone of the economy, are driving the gains.
They added more than 200,000 jobs for a second straight month. It was
the first time that’s happened since 2006 — more than a year before
the recession started in November 2007 when the democrats had taken
control of both houses.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman told Congress on Thursday the average
federal tax refund is about $3,000 this year. The Internal Revenue
Service has received a little more than 75 million returns so far,
with about 65 million qualifying for refunds.

The agency expects to issue refunds totaling $250 billion to $300
billion, Shulman said, resulting in increased spending by consumers.

[Vaduz]

Only the Obama fools they swallow any number any time.

[MEGoody]

Where you went off track was in trying to make sense of the article instead of blindly accepting the 8.8% claimed rate as fact.

Oh, silly me. What was I thinking trying to make sense of anything that comes out of this administration.

I shall do 10 hail Obamas as pennance.

[Brown Deer]

0bama has been playing with the unemployment numbers. During 0bama’s administration, our population has grown by 6,324,000 and we have lost 3,460,000 jobs!

At the end of 2008, the labor force level was reported to be 154,669,000 or 50.7% of the population. Therefore, (154,669,000 - 143,324,000) / 154,669,000 = 7.3% unemployment.

To calculate the current unemployment rate in comparison, first get the current labor force, (0.507 X 311,122,000) = 157,878,000. Unemployment rate = (157,878,000 - 139,864,000) / 157,878,000 = 11.4% unemployment!

Dec 2008: 143,324,000 (population 304,798,000)
2009
Jan: 142,201,000
Feb: 141,687,000
Mar: 140,822,000
APr: 140,720,000
May: 140,292,000
Jun: 139,978,000
Jul: 139,794,000
Aug: 139,409,000
Sep: 138,791,000
Oct: 138,393,000
Nov: 138,590,000
Dec: 137,960,000 (population 307,439,000)
2010
Jan: 138,511,000
Feb: 138,698,000
Mar: 138,952,000
Apr: 139,382,000
May: 139,353,000
Jun: 139,092,000
Jul: 138,991,000
Aug: 139,267,000
Sep: 139,378,000
Oct: 139,084,000
Nov: 138,909,000
Dec: 139,206,000 (population 308,745,538)
2011
Jan: 139,323,000
Feb: 139,573,000
Mar: 139,864,000 (population 311,122,000)

sources:
http://data.bls.gov
http://www.census.gov