Friday, December 17, 2010

Rising Unemployment Not a Recession

And up is down, black is white, war is peace.... sigh.

"Jobless rate in state rises slightly; Analysts remain optimistic amid broader growth" by Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff / December 17, 2010

Employers cut thousands of jobs....

Michael Goodman, an economic analyst and professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, said the Massachusetts economy has rebounded from the recession faster than the country as a whole and should continue to grow.... 

Nationally, the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent last month from 9.6 percent in October, according to the US Department of Labor. Job growth was also disappointingly weak: US employers added just over 39,000 jobs in November....   

During the allegedly temporary-help holiday season as the economy is allegedly growing?

Alan Clayton-Matthews, a Northeastern University economics professor, said the job market might not be as weak as yesterday’s report suggested. The increased unemployment rate, for example, may be a bit deceiving given that the labor force grew substantially as more people began or resumed job searches....  

Yeah, someone is doing some deceiving.

Joanne F. Goldstein, state secretary of Labor and Workforce Development, said the small increase in the November unemployment rate is offset by the economy’s overall progress.  

Tell that to the people out of work.

“We’re obviously going in the right direction,’’ Goldstein said. “All the indicators are consistent with the notion that we are heading out of the recession, that we’re leading the nation out of the recession.’’  

If we are leading the nation it is in worse shape than the paper is telling you.

Job losses last month were concentrated in the leisure and hospitality sector, which includes hotels and restaurants. The sector shed 6,100 jobs. 

Shouldn't those have been RISING with the HOLIDAYS?

Also losing jobs in November were: other services, which includes auto repair, maintenance, and personal services and shed 1,900 jobs; information, which includes software publishers and lost 1,800 jobs; and professional, scientific and business services, which lost 1,100 jobs.

But some sectors added jobs in November. Education and health services gained 2,100 jobs; construction, 600 jobs; government, 500 jobs; and manufacturing 200 jobs.   

Yeah, that will save a state of 8 million.

Related: The Health of the Massachusetts Economy

And the Globe may not even be telling the truth about the jobs created, 'eh?

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Oh, look, another pile of BS in my Boston Globe business pages:

"Geithner defends US crisis response; Says full recovery is still years away" by Dina ElBoghdady, Washington Post / December 17, 2010

WASHINGTON — The economy has grown for 18 months, the private sector has added 1.2 million jobs, and household wealth has improved substantially, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the Congressional Oversight Panel. Geithner credited the financial bailout package and a host of programs for those gains.

For troubled homeowners, “it is cold comfort to these individuals and families that the too-big-to-fail financial institutions, aided by [the government bailout of banks] and other government-sponsored programs, have near-record earnings,’’ said J. Mark McWatters, a Congressional Oversight Panel member.   

Of course, that is why your economy looks so good, Americans

Related: The Early Bird Catches the Bonus

Alarm clock not go off?

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Also see: Boston Globe Business Pages Are Nothing But Bulls***!

I thought I recognized the smell.