Yawn. Hypocrites ridicule statistics here then pile onto the statistics when they serve a purpose.
Without the underlying instabilities - such as exhausted benefits, multiple part-time jobs, inability to source work in an area of education, profession or expertise - these stats have as much integrity as the polls which showed Hillary cruising to a win.
I live in a state claiming to have one of the lowest unemployment rates yet in my job I continually experience people who are unable to tolerate any change in their monthly budget whatsoever. My wife cannot find full-time work in her area of expertise. Absent government work or most anything in the medical fields, this rings true almost across the board in every conversation. Job stability is no longer a foregone conclusion: Nomadic employment is the rule not for qualified workers, but for workers seeking to regain the benefits once afforded under an economy long-gone. Very few people I know would assert that they are far-removed from what might be termed “desperation” with even a slight impact upon their employment or expenses.
The reality is that the damage from the past 16-30 years will take a generation or more to correct and, right now...we are on the precipice of disaster awaiting a single event to trigger an inevitable chain of events. Those in government know this all-too-well.
Why do FReepers project ignorance so frequently for a rush of feel-good?
What State/City do you live in?
“Without the underlying instabilities - such as exhausted benefits, multiple part-time jobs...”
I hesitate to get too excited also for the reasons you listed. Good post but won’t be too popular. President Trump and team are trying their very best to help this country. They need our prayers daily.
While I can say that my customers are busier and have called it the “Trump Bump”, and I believe them, the unemployment stat methodology is so bogus as to be criminal. My statistics classes in 1974 would have failed anyone who claimed such methodology. Ditto for CPI and GDP.
We can be positive and realistic. But realize the level of the feel good numbers is serious BS.