• xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    27 days ago

    This statistics are less bullshit than normal - they’re mostly true the two bullshit figures are 1) unemployment and 2) quarterly job growth figures.

    When unemployment is celebrated as going down please keep in mind that only people recently employed who are actively seeking work count as unemployed… long term unemployment doesn’t count and people who have given up on job searching don’t count either.

    Quarterly job growth figures are also misleading because they initially vastly overcount a lot of gig and part time employment from, for instance, working as an Uber and Lyft driver. It takes time to clean out these dupes so the numbers are always initially extremely strong until they get revised down.

    This article is actually focused more on historical data of job growth this counts actual jobs created (not gig arrangements) and has already been revised down. These numbers actually are something to brag about… that said the economy still sucks for a lot of people and inflation has really put a squeeze on people carrying debt - some of these jobs are restorations of jobs lost during covid but getting those jobs back is worth celebrating - it absolutely wasn’t a given. I agree with pretty much everything else you mentioned especially some frustration with Dems repeatedly using bullshit numbers when the actual numbers are less impressive but still good… it erodes our general ability to call out Trump’s bullshit.