Krugman: Good News. Jobs Outpacing Population Growth

[berni_mccoy]

From http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/jobs-jobs-jobs/

An actually good employment report. A reminder: there are two separate surveys, one of employers — which is where the 290,000 jobs number comes from — and one of households, which is where the 9.9 percent unemployment rate comes from. Sampling error, seasonal adjustments, and other technical factors can make these reports give contradictory indications.

Actually, though, in this case they’re both positive. My favorite indicator from the household survey isn’t the unemployment rate, it’s the employment-population ratio — and that’s up, from 58.6 to 58.8. In fact, it has been rising since December. At this point it’s clear that the economy is adding jobs, and doing so faster than population growth.

We have a ways to go before we are out of the woods, as Krugman notes, but no one with any credibility can deny the good news or that it is a result of Obama's economic policy.