Great News: Plenty of Jobs and a Healthy Economy!

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week and touched its lowest level in nearly four months, suggesting the labor market was strengthening.

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits declined 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 311,000, the lowest level since November, the Labor Department said on Thursday.

US Jobless Claims Fall to a Near Four-Month Low

U.S. economic growth was a bit faster than previously estimated in the fourth quarter, displaying underlying strength that could bolster views that the slowdown in activity early in the year would be temporary.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 2.6 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Thursday, up from the 2.4 percent pace it reported last month. The revision reflected a stronger pace of consumer spending than previously estimated.

US 4Q Economic Growth Revised Higher

"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" - Mark Twain

There is great news for all of you uniformed people that believe that there are no jobs and tight budgets; official Government reports seem to imply you are wrong. Statistics just released show that jobless claims have dropped to a near four-month low and the 4th quarter economic growth has been revised higher. You see? You are just imagining it all.

The two headlines I posted above made me laugh out loud when I read them this morning. I don't know about you, but it doesn't feel like things are as rosy as the picture the Government is painting for us.

I guess from a Government that has the balls to criticize Russia for meddling in the affairs of other countries it isn't THAT surprising.

reply to post by Metallicus


Yep.
They forgot to tell us how low food and energy costs are too!

Oh hell, why don't they just complete the lie and tell us that we are all billionaires too.

reply to post by Metallicus


Hey it's an election year. Obama's numbers are in the toilet. The Dems want to hold the senate. They need to paint a "rosy" picture.

reply to post by Metallicus


Whenever the job reports come out, I am reminded of this scene. . .



Damned lies, indeed!

Benjamin Disraeli is responsible for that quote - not Mark Twain.

But yes OP, statistics lie. Ask anyone who works with numbers. I had a job with the government, and the main reason I left wasn't the type of job or many of the reasons folks leave jobs. I'm a programmer and I lost my mind over the requests to "run the numbers a different way", and then witness the myriad ways my work was manipulated to represent the point of view desired. Never, never trust numbers. They're more flexible than most think, and that's how people get away with it. Too many people are content "not being a numbers person". Well then...they asked for it.

True or not, it seems you lot don't ever want the economy to recover!

I guess if it does, there's nothing to complain and be negative about.

chasingbrahman
Benjamin Disraeli is responsible for that quote - not Mark Twain.

The term was popularised in the United States by Mark Twain (among others), who attributed it to the 19th-century British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881): "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." However, the phrase is not found in any of Disraeli's works and the earliest known appearances were years after his death. Other coiners have therefore been proposed, and the phrase is often attributed to Twain himself.

Mark Twain is given credit for using the term and popularizing it since Disraeli never used it in print.

Source

AlphaHawk
True or not, it seems you lot don't ever want the economy to recover!

I guess if it does, there's nothing to complain and be negative about.

edit on 27-3-2014 by AlphaHawk because: (no reason given)

Well, that is one way to twist OBAMA'S crappy economy into being everyone's fault but the Emperor himself.

Now you can go back to blaming it all on Bush.

reply to post by Metallicus


I stand corrected! Thank you for the lesson (and the thought-provoking post as well)!

reply to post by chasingbrahman


Well, you were correct as well. I just wasn't wrong, lol

You're welcome!

Well, since the economy is based on belief, do you expect these agencies to tell us the truth so our belief in the economy will fade?

We are, and have been for a long time, living in a country run by misconceptions and misapplied evidence. Some call it propaganda, I call it lying to the people. Lots of people make a living deceiving others, it is now the American way. If you do not think this applies to you, stand back and examine what you do for a living. Is the need for what you do even necessary? Most people can't see things that make them look bad. Does it supply reasonable products or services at an appropriate price when sold to the public? Most food from the farms is marked up a lot by the middle man and the store, the store making less profits than the middle man or speculators that drive up the market.