Barron’s picks up “The Real Job Growth Numbers”

December 28, 2005 5:45am by

barrons_online

 

Barron’s ran with last week’s How Strong is this Jobs Recovery? in the online edition:

LATELY, THE WHITE HOUSE
and Treasury Secretary John Snow have been trumpeting the fact that the
economy has created 4.4 million new jobs since May 2003.

Inquiring minds want to know: How legit is that
number? How was it derived? How does this job-creation data compare to
prior cyclical recoveries?

First question: How did the White House come up with that 4.4 million new-jobs number? Is it accurate?

Measured trough to peak, there were actually almost
4.5 million new jobs created. In May 2003, there were 129.8 million
people employed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). As
of November 2005, there were 134.3 million. That reflects 4.5 million
new jobs. So the "over 4.4 million jobs created" statement is
numerically accurate.

So if that number is mathematically accurate, what’s the problem? That’s our second question:

I like having a 3rd party publish sometihng, so that years later I can point back to an objective archive of it.

 

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Source:
The Real Job Growth Numbers
INVESTORS’ SOAPBOX AM  |  Online Exclusive
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2005 11:58 a.m. EST      
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB113538056349330904.html

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What's been said:

Discussions found on the web:
  1. robert mal commented on Dec 28

    My guess would be that the U.S. population has grown at a certain percentage, so the increase in the number of jobs versus the increase in the population number is what needs to be looked at.

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