Gloomy
PoliPundit.com
Following up on Lorie’s post about the monthly surplus, in April, and therefore the narrowing of deficit projections, here’s a statistical comparison that you will not see – repeat: not – on CNN’s or MSNBC’s websites, or in tomorrow’s editions of the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Washington Post, the Philly Inquirer, the Seattle P-I, etc., etc., etc.:
April 26, 1997
The prior month’s initial jobless claims = 1,308,000.
Employed workforce = 129.143 million.
New jobless claims as a share of the employed workforce = 1.01 percent.
On the other hand, there’s this:
April 30, 2005
The prior month’s intitial jobless claims = 1,286,000.
Employed workforce = 140.501 million (as of March 2005).
New jobless claims as a share of the employed workforce = 0.91 percent.
Hmm, that’s sort of contrary to what Krugman might have thought, no?
Note: Workforce data here.
data.bls.gov
-- Jayson
polipundit.com
polipundit.com
workforcesecurity.doleta.gov
workforcesecurity.doleta.gov |
