AUTOREFRESH 
Jobs report: It is what it is
By Jamie Coleman || February 3, 2012 at 14:37 GMT
|| 7 comments || Add comment
The grumpy amongst us have jumped on the internals of the employment report to shoot holes in it, as they always do whenever it shows improvement.
That’s fine, that’s what they do.
I am much more hands off on the subject. The data is what the data is. It is flawed, it is an estimate, but the bean-counters have a methodology and the stick with it, through thick and thin.
Like bad calls by the referees in a basketball game, they tend to even out over a long season. That’s my feeling on government data…
You know you love the ZH article….
Why is copper rallying? I am assuming that is what is holding AUD up?
Grumpy or truthseekers? Is it any wonder why so many say that unempl will be a slog as those who no longer participate or ‘count’ come in and out of the labor force– let’s not forget that those unemployed for 27 weeks or longer have been growing and stubbornly high for the past 3years. Statistical fudging aside, you are right the numbers are what they are and we can pay as much attention to them as we like, but it’s the unhealthy group think that develops with the help of media that I’m more concerned about.
The assumption is that when the largest economy in the world shows strength it will consumer more commodities…That’s why AUD and CAD outperform when the US and China show strength… China’s gotta sell their crap to someone…
Last year you called participation rate dropped around same time; you mentioned ‘em as “discouraged workers”; this time is it the same or there is a real improvement or coming up election hogwash? http://www.forexlive.com/blog/2011/03/04/forexlive-us-wrap-payrolls-improve-but-not-enough/
2 statesticians from Maryland University say that the actual number is closer to 500,000 jobs because the way in which household surveys are detailed and worded, a lot of workers are excluded from the Dept of Labours stats
Jamie,
That is the wisest peice of advice out of you. Thanks, we’ll take it heart.