So 308,000 jobs were created in March. Predictably, the newswires lead with the accompanying report of a slight increase in unemployment rather than the job growth, in a not-so-subtle effort to invalidate any marks of progress.
Buried in both reports of the news is the very good news that the erosion in manufacturing jobs has halted after forty-four (44) months of consecutive decline. Of course, the media spin offers faint-hearted, back-handed praise on this matter:
Let us pause for just a moment to chew this cud. Forty four months of decline is a long time. In fact, some might argue that forty-four months is very close to three and three-quarters years, as compared to the three years being stated in the excerpt. If one were to march back through the calendar to the first days after the rusty bottom of the manufacturing jobs tin can dropped out, spilling this sector all over the unemployment lines, we'll see that event actually took place when another President of a different party and of a different mindset actually held office. And if we logically and fairly assume that these employment markets don't prosper and/or collapse in a day's time, or even a month's time, we can only reason that the events, policies, and practices of the preceding several months and even possibly years were the cause of the actual unfortunate disintegration of the workplace.
So, by extension, if we can fairly attribute a steady decline to events, policies, and practices that took place over preceding years, we can reasonably expect current policies, events, and practices to have a gradual effect upon the market. And to be able to plug the gaping hole in the sinking Titanic that has been US manufacturing jobs in less than four years is commendable, especially when you factor in considerations of a significant terrorist attack and a victorious multi-front war effort requiring considerable human, financial, and physical resources. The fact that President Bush and his team has righted the ship is good news. The fact that we're finally able to bilge the water we've taken on from President Clinton's mismanagement is good news. The logical optimism that we'll soon be able to steam forward toward the destination of manufacturing prosperity is good news.
Don't let the media or John Kerry tell you otherwise. And remember to take the Ketchup Kid's boastful confidence in his own job-creating ability with a grain of salt. Remember, this is they guy who claims to have the world's leaders supporting his candidacy, that he could have created a global alliance for the fight for democracy, that he could have prevented 9/11 by an act of his considerable will, and that he is only weakened in the presence of Kryponite which unfortunately comes wrapped in increased taxation legislation.
April 2, 2004 11:33 AMI don't know how familiar you are with the unemployment calculation, but the number of unmployed people is derived from all people who do not have a job AND they are currently looking for one. It turns out that after a few months people give up looking for a job, and when this happens they are no longer calculated as part of the unemployed- it happens on every trough in the employment market. So when they say that unemployment went up, that is actually good news, because it means that people believe that the market is stronger and they have gone from not being counted to being "unemployed" because they are now looking for a job- something that also happens with such regularity that economists watch for it. But the media generally doesn't note this, and we are to believe that the economy is still "a mess" as Mr. sKerry might say.
Posted by: Bob at April 2, 2004 8:02 PMI thought that it was interesting that one of the reports alluded to this indirectly by saying something akin to "the rate went up because more people resumed their job searches."
Thanks for the explanation.
Posted by: Bryan at April 2, 2004 11:16 PM