Free Republic

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board threw a big wrench into the media machine celebrating President Joe Biden’s so-called win on the better-than-expected January jobs report. The Bureau of Labor Statistics published a Feb. 4 report showing the economy added 467,000 jobs, which blew past estimates. The media swallowed the news whole. CNBC’s headline was: “Payrolls show surprisingly powerful gain of 467,000 in January despite omicron surge.” ABC News salivated: “US economy defies omicron and adds 467,000 jobs in January.” But The Journal had a surprisingly different take, and it was an eye-opener: “Who knows what to make of Friday’s...

John Kerry has based his claim of economic malfeasance by President Bush on the assertion that “three million jobs have been lost” on his watch. The original claim was 2.7 million jobs lost, but the quarrel here is not over the rounding up to an even three million. Ed McMahon has established over the last four decades that the Kerry claim is false. We’ll get back to McMahon in a moment. First a dose of statistics. The Department of Labor has a long and well-earned reputation for accuracy in its statistical analyses. But it has three different ways of measuring...