“Jobs Saved” Statistical Relevance???
For a very long period of time, the United States Government has issued statistics on employment as well as unemployment. The Department of Labor has been reporting on the job labor market for nearly a century and while its numbers are sometimes questioned as to accuracy, they have generally been accepted as reliable. Over the years, it has even come down to reporting new ‘unemployment claims’ filed in all States on a weekly basis. These numbers are taken from data they receive from employers as well as from their ‘subsidiary’ unemployment offices throughout the country. The one statistic that is not reliably reported is the number of people being unemployed beyond their compensation periods which stands currently at 99 weeks or nearly two years. The Department of Labor simply does not know if those individuals who do no longer receive unemployment benefits have found new jobs, if they are still looking for work or simply gave up.
But now comes a brand-new job statistic, compliments of the Obama Administration. This is not part of the official Dept. of Labor reporting system: This new category is called “Jobs Saved”! It is the result of the need to show the public how well and effective their numerous stimulus legislative packages have been that have been enacted since Obama became President. These numbers have no statistical bases and have to be considered to a great extent wishful thinking on the part of the current administration. There is also no specific frequency when it comes to getting updates on these so called ‘Saved Jobs’.
Now then, how do we get these numbers? The answer is very simple: They – the Obama administration – decides to have every spokesperson tout the success of the stimulus packages by declaring and we quote: “The stimulus packages have saved between two and three million jobs so far.” And to the uninformed and ignorant people, this sounds – if not good – at least somewhat encouraging. The only problem with these numbers is the fact that they are strictly based on computer simulations and we know what that can result in: Garbage in – Garbage out! In other words, one can easily manipulate the data of such statistics.
We here at Common Sense University bemoan once again the fact that there is not one reporter or journalist who has the gumption to challenge these numbers by simply asking for a breakdown by State or additional specifics. Once again, the media is not doing its job but just passing on the nonsense that it is being fed by the Government. And how can this number be so vague in that one is given a range as shown above. Does this not mean that the number has no true baseline? Absolutely, because it is false and at best wishful thinking!
We also have to wonder if the Republicans will have the fortitude to challenge these ‘false’ statistics as they enter the stretch before the November mid-term elections. In fact, we would like to see them introduce some humor (or cynicism) into the campaign by asking why Obama has not been taken credit for saving all the jobs still in America. Yes, approximately all 145 million jobs! After all, this would be even more impressive to claim since we allegedly have been rescued by the President from the total collapse of the American economy. Remember the Mess he inherited from the Bush administration? It will be interesting to see if these ‘saved jobs’ numbers will significantly increase between now and the November 2010 congressional elections. It would not surprise us because when you are getting away with these blatant distortions and outright lies, why not embellish the numbers and take credit for them. After all, nobody will seriously take them to task for this data.
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