This Is A Recording

This supposed news story appeared on the front page of the business section in yesterday's Bucks County Courier Times. I'm presenting it again here (in blocked text) with my comments.

Jobless claims up

The small 5,000 rise in claims was better than the 17,000 analysts had been expecting.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits edged up slightly last week but remained at a level indicating a strong labor market.

(No person is attributed anywhere in this "story." Except for the obscure reference to "government analysts," we have no idea of where this information is coming from.)

The Labor Department reported that 310,000 newly laid off workers...

(That sure is a number that gets my attention.)

...applied for jobless benefits last week. That was a small increase of 5,000 claims,...

("Small" in whose estimation, I wonder?)

...but it occurred after a dramatic drop of 32,000 in the previous week and left claims at a level indicating the labor market remained healthy.

(That drop could have occurred because people's unemployment benefits ran out and they've given up looking for work. Also, I don't really care if the labor market is "healthy," I care if the job market is that way. I already know there are many, many people still looking for work.)

A flurry of indicators in recent weeks have flashed signals that the economy had successfully emerged from a rough patch in the spring and was entering the second half of the year with renewed momentum.

(First of all, this is too vague of a statement for me to understand what it means. Second, it is an editorial comment and does not belong in what is supposed to be a legitimate news story.)

The small 5,000 rise in claims...

(Not "small" if you're a claimant, but silly me...I forget again that this type of "news" is really for the benefit of the investor class and not "John or Jane Q. Working Person"...)

...last week was better than the 17,000-claims increase that analysts had been expecting. Government analysts said that there were fewer layoffs in autos and large number of other industries (sic).

(So this is what we have to live with in the Bushco era...a moderate degree of bad news that is dressed up as "success," as opposed to a full-blown disaster described as a "moderate downturn.")

(Oh, and get your calculators ready as you try to figure out this next paragraph.)

The 310,000 total claims came after 305,000 claims the previous week. Both weeks represented the lowest level for claims in the past three months. The four-week moving average for claims edged down to 318,250 from 318,500 the previous week.

(And this is progress??)

Analysts said the low level of layoffs in the past two weeks...

("Low" again being relative...)

...showed that the labor market was improving after extensive plant shutdowns in the auto industry in July for retooling for the new model year.

(I don't work in the auto industry, but I don't know how you can "retool" your vehicles as you lay people off. I guess I just need some enlightenment on that.)

I'm still waiting for sound, serious analysis from a major news organization in this country regarding our economy and where it's going. The closest I've found so far is online from Paul Craig Roberts, who worked in the commerce department during the Reagan administration. If you have any familiarity with Roberts' work at all , you know that he is painting a very different picture from that created by the bland and confusing generalities brought to us from our dear MSM cousins.