Disparate Jobs Data Add Up to a Mystery(ashamed to admit you're unemployed

[papau]

One does like Cheney's clear vision of all the new jobs - 1.8 million new jobs since March 2001 all consisting of freelancers, private contractors, and people working at home, as they prosper under Bush, but do not show up in the Labor Department momthly survey of hiring activities at 400,000 work sites. And I do note the 2/04 payrolls rise of 21,000, as at home employment dropped 265,000! And if only the BLS had not released the study last week showing the self-employed actually decreased in the 90's.

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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-survey23aug23.story
Disparate Jobs Data Add Up to a Mystery(ashamed to admit you're unemployed?)
Times Staff Writer

August 23, 2004

More than half a million unemployed people say their fortunes improved dramatically last month: They got a job (at least that's a statistical projection of the results of a 60,000 household telephone survey that is used to represent all potential labor force members).

Now if only someone could prove it.

According to the government's regular survey of the nation's households, 629,000 people started work in July. But when the government asked companies how many jobs they had added to their payrolls, the answer was only 32,000.

If they're not working in a store, office or factory, what are those 597,000 other folks doing? Working as consultants? Selling bric-a-brac on EBay? Mowing their neighbors' lawns?

Or are they actually unemployed but so ashamed that they're lying about it?<snip>



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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-shlaes23aug23.story
COMMENTARY
GOP Needn't Fret Over Economic Data
Overall, Bush's fiscal record is worthy of party pride.
By Amity Shlaes
Amity Shlaes is a senior columnist for the Financial Times. This essay appears by special arrangement with that newspaper.

August 23, 2004

What to do about those numbers? That is the big discussion in the Republican Party in the days before its convention. <snip>

All of which brings us to the larger question: Is unequal income distribution always bad? The answer is no. Historically, uneven income distributions tend to correlate to strong growth. In societies with the rule of law, that wealth tends to turn into opportunity. Societies where everyone earns closer to the same amount grow more slowly; they are also, often, broke (Western Europe).

Also, the focus on income can obscure other gains. The same Census Bureau just reported that the homeownership rate hit 69%, up from 67% in 2000 and 64% when Bill Clinton took office. Under Bush, African American homeownership may cross the 50% line for the first time. Surely, homeownership is a more decisive measure of social achievement than income-data snapshots.

In other words, the issue is not bad numbers. It is Republican timidity. The U.S. has serious economic problems: the price of oil, unwarranted litigation, the unfunded liabilities of the national pension program. Some of these economic problems are Bush's fault — an untenably expensive new senior drug program, for example. Still, Bush's overall economic record merits pride. By cutting taxes, Bush helped ensure that the U.S. remains relatively competitive in a stressful period.<snip>

[madrchsod]

1. i work -for- norrel

a shitty temp service..i am employed but not for the company i work-at-. so where di i fit in the grand scheme of things. if someone called me i`d just none of your business....
there are very few jobs out there....

[mhr]

2. Unemployed 4 Years, Resume Says Self-Employed To Save Face

With recruiters which have not called or inquired recently.

Out of prospects, Out of hope in Dallas, TX.

See what Bush Has Done to Texas!

[Southsideirish]

3. Relative who has been unemployed for 2+ years advised to do

this by a head hunter - start a company just to list it on resume.