The Homa Files

OK, here’s this week’s unemployment claims headline:

“Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 387,000.

The prior week’s figure was revised up to 389,000 from the previously reported 386,000.”

Said differentlt: Unemployment claims (387,000) increased by 1,000 over last week’s reported number (386,000) … but last week’s reported number (386,000) was revised up by 3,000  to 389,000 … so, this week’s number is not an increase of 1,000, it’s a decrease of 2,000.

C’mon man.

My bet: this week’s number 387,000 will be revised upward next week.

That’s a safe bet, since the BLS has under-reported initial unemployment claims for 66 out of the last 67 weeks.

Here’s the recap for the past 7 weeks:

Bottom line: a consistent bias – maybe statistical, maybe political – that provides Obama with jobs’ headlines more favorable than reality

Either the BLS has the worst statisticians on the face of the earth, or they’ve become political hacks.

You decide …

Tags: BLS, cookin' the books, political bias, statistical bias, unemployment claims

This entry was posted on June 22, 2012 at 6:59 am and is filed under BLS, Employment - Jobs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.