Posted on 10/12/2012 10:47:43 AM PDT by Kaslin
For the second time in less than a week surprising jobs numbers came into play. This morning the Labor Department reported a four-year low of 339,000 first-time claims.
Some claimed this validated last Friday's jobs report, a silly notion because the two are not that closely related and a single week of data is meaningless.
I still think Friday's jobs report will be revised away, but I am positive today's "surprising" report will be (for the simple reason California forgot to report 30,000 claims).
Please consider Jobless Claims Data Skewed Downward.
Initial jobless claims, which are a measure of the number of people recently laid off, fell by 30,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000, the lowest level in more than four years.
But the Labor Department spokesman said the numbers were skewed by one large state that underreported its data. The spokesman declined to identify the state, but economists believe California is the only state large enough to have such a significant impact on the overall numbers.
According to the spokesman, the reason that states claims numbers fell short was because the state left out a pile of unprocessed claims related to seasonal factors around the beginning of the fourth quarter, which began Oct. 1.
In a research note, Stephen Stanley of Pierpont Securities summed up the data: In short, this reading is worthless in terms of informing on the general economy.Actually, the report isn't worthless, it's simply erroneous. Add back in 30,000 claims and the number is 369,000 right about where it has been for some time.
Is there a conspiracy here? Once again the answer is no.
This large state has a history of reporting volatile numbers at the beginning of quarters and that the Labor Department has complained and tried to work with the state to more accurately report its claims but with little success.What We Learned Today
There is no explanation for the volatility. We have tried and tried to work with them. Its like playing hardball with them, the spokesman said.
The spokesman said that the unprocessed claims are likely to show up in the numbers in the next week or two. We should see some sort of catch up.
Another tread here today claims that MANY states are WAY behind in processing their new unemployment papers.
Colorado is said to be 2 MONTHS behind in such processing.
How convenient for Obama & Biden & the Dems that such claims are so tardy & behind in processing!!!!
When Obama gets defeated, watch for ‘all those tardy claims’ to be surprisingly caught up & Romney gets hit with a staggering number of ‘new unemployment claims’.
Then get the media news to report these shenanigans to the population. Fox News should be all over this criminality.
Mom and Pop websites ain’t getting it done.
Most people are not aware that this survey is now financed in part by Reuters, along with the University of Michigan.
Reuters, which is focused primarily on business, has become one of the most egregiously Hard Left news organizations in the world.
Their hatred of Israel is legendary.
And you cannot find a Reuters news story about Europe that does not openly advocate for EU loan guarantees, bailouts, and centralized political control by unelected bureaucrats.
In the last week Reuters has posted stories on the unemployment rate, initial jobless claims, and consumer sentiment that all contain wording in the first paragraph that goes like this...
“Unexpected good news” and “A possible boost to President Obama’s reelection hopes next month.”
If Obama really wanted to help himself, he’d “fake” lower gas prices.
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