one of the most vigorously documented numbers that the government puts out.
Not disputing that -ggg- This an article from May this year.
/snippet1
Most manufacturing firms, looking at both their top and bottom lines, would be pardoned for assuming the U.S. economy is still in a recession. But that's not the way federal government statistics tell the economic story. The official numbers show that real GDP has risen at an annual rate of almost 3% since the unofficial end of the recession in December 2001 and that the index of industrial production has increased over 2%. In the meantime, however, U.S. private-sector employment has declined by 800,000. Why the divergence?
The answer is easy, say the government statisticians,
/end snippet1
industryweek.com
/snippet2
As a result of these and other misdemeanors, the inflation rate is understated by about two percentage points. Instead of being 2%, it is closer to 4%. That means growth adjusted for inflation is overstated. Which means that instead of being 2.5%, average annual economic growth since 1947 has been 0.5%. If the government said the rate of inflation were 4%, interest rates wouldn't be as low, and the federal budget deficit would be even bigger. But manufacturers would know where we really are in these troubled times.
Michael K. Evans is chief economist for American Economics Group, Washington, D.C., and president of the Evans Group, an economics consulting firm in Boca Raton, Fla.
/end snippet2.
So in conclusion, my point is... If the government has shown to be misguided with one set of figures (inflation, production and productivity), what makes anyone so sure the unemployment figures are accurate either? |
