Free Republic

We already noted the absolutely stunning surge in reported Household Survey jobs which "added" 873,000 jobs, or the most since 2003 and the second most in the past decade, which was just a little bit off the Household Survey used in the monthly NFP jobs changes, which came at 114,000, or about 8 times less. But what was the reason for this epic jump in Household survey jobs? Simple, and those who have read our series on America's transition to a part-time worker society know the answer. The reason is that the number of part-time people employed for economic reasons...

We already noted the absolutely stunning surge in reported Household Survey jobs which "added" 873,000 jobs, or the most since 2003 and the second most in the past decade, which was just a little bit off the Household Survey used in the monthly NFP jobs changes, which came at 114,000, or about 8 times less. But what was the reason for this epic jump in Household survey jobs? Simple, and those who have read our series on America's transition to a part-time worker society know the answer. The reason is that the number of part-time people employed for economic reasons...

Former GE CEO Jack Welch's reaction to non-farm payrolls adding 114,000 new jobs in September and the unemployment rate falling to 7.8 percent: Twitter/@jack_welch Looks like Welch already was predicting this last night: Twitter/@jack_welch

Suspicion about the federal government's September jobs report has fallen on Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who appeared on CNBC this morning and defended the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), claiming--falsely--that upward revisions of 86,000 jobs were from the private sector. In fact, the new number is entirely accounted for by upwards revisions to state and federal government payrolls. The BLS reported that while only 114,000 jobs were created in September--which would have translated into a rise in unemployment from 8.1% to 8.2%--the unemployment rate fell dramatically to 7.8%. That unusual drop is the fastest in nearly...

October 5, 2012 Rep. Allen West Ascribes Saul Alinsky Conspiracy Theory to Lower Unemployment Rate Erin Brown It’s no surprise that in the wake of President Obama’s depressing debate performance against Mitt Romney this week, the Left and the media are ecstatic about the latest jobs number report this morning claiming that that unemployment rate fell from 8.1 percent to 7.8 in September.But not everyone is buying the good news for the president and Rep. Allen West (R-FL) is leading the speculation camp with a conspiracy theory about “Saul Alinsky tactics” and “Chicago style politics” at work to cook the...

The September Non-Farm Payrolls came in at + 114,000 with a lower unemployment rate 7.8%, slightly higher labor force participation and upward revisions of 40,000 to July (+181,000) and 46,000 in August (+142,000). The 2012 average monthly employment gain is +146,000 down from the 2011 average of 153,000. The labor force participation rate edged up to 63.9% from the August lows of 63.7%. This number will receive massive attention, and significant skepticism from some quarters, given the presidential contest and the focus on jobs by the candidates. We need about 110,000 net new jobs each moth to keep up with...

The seasonally-adjusted SGS Alternate Unemployment Rate reflects current unemployment reporting methodology adjusted for SGS-estimated long-term discouraged workers, who were defined out of official existence in 1994. That estimate is added to the BLS estimate of U-6 unemployment, which includes short-term discouraged workers. The U-3 unemployment rate is the monthly headline number. The U-6 unemployment rate is the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) broadest unemployment measure, including short-term discouraged and other marginally-attached workers as well as those forced to work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment.

Even if the U.S. government wanted to manipulate monthly jobs figures, it would be impossible to accomplish, said a former head of the U.S. government’s labor statistics agency. Accusations that the government had manipulated the latest employment report spread across Twitter and other forums Friday after the U.S. unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since President Barack Obama’s inauguration. Among those questioning the better-than-expected report was former General Electric Chief Executive Jack Welch, who tweeted the suggestion that the “unbelievable jobs numbers” were fabricated to help Obama’s electoral chances in next month’s presidential election. But, Keith Hall, who served...

A flashback to a CNN article from just before the 2004 election era shows just how unbelievable today's new unemployment numbers are. In September 2004, new numbers came out, showing a drop in unemployment from 5.5% to 5.4%. At that time, with a much lower unemployment number than we have today (around 8% today), the increase in new jobs that caused a 0.1% decrease in unemployment was 144,000. So, let's get this straight. With 144,000 new jobs in a smaller U.S. population (about 295 million in 2004 vs. about 314 million today), you get a drop in unemployment by 0.1%....

President Obama is speaking at George Mason University today (traffic is insane!). He has a long awaited jobs one-liner: the U3 unemployment rate fell to 7.8%. He probably won’t mention that U6 unemployment, the more indicative measure of true unemployment, remained at 14.7%. This is due to a large increase in the number of workers working part time for economic reasons. Change in nonfarm payrolls rose by 114,000. Hardly comforting given the 12,088,000 unemployed. And remember that the survey of households uncovered an additional 800,000 jobs this month, 187,000 of which government workers. [This reminds me of the miraculous appearance...

Rick Santelli, the man who helped launch the Tea Party with his impassioned comments from the trading floor in 2009, sees the hand of politics at work in today's announcement that the unemployment rate has dipped below 8%. Speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box this morning just minutes after the number was announced, Santelli said: "I told you they'd get it under 8%--they did!" View the video here.

Just announced!

In a startling development, the Federal Health and Human Services Department announced this morning that the average life expectancy of Americans has jumped to 98, a 29% increase since 1983. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in an unscheduled news conference this morning, addressed a crowd of reporters and health professionals. "We are proud to announce that as a result of President Obama's and First Lady Michelle's efforts over the past four years, the average life expectancy has risen 29%, to the age of 98. Programs to ban large soft drinks, force school children to eat arugala, close-down Chick-fil-A restaurants, and add...

Braking hard ...