Which isn't to call the adjustments into question. April is normally the strongest month of the year for hiring. So "ordinary" hiring should be smoothed out of the numbers to get a picture of the underlying trend - that's the point of seasonal adjustment. This year, only the "normal" hiring occurred, so the seasonally adjusted picture was pretty flat. And since a "normal" April usually sees a sharp drop in unemployment, the adjustment turned the smaller-than-usual drop into a rise.
Which isn't to say the U.S. economy's in great shape. It's stumbling along with no firm trend in place. If this were a normal recovery, job growth would be running about 260,000 a month; so far this year, it's fallen an average of 23,000 a month.
Doug
Kevin Robert Dean wrote:
>Jobless Rate Hits 6.0 Percent
>Fri May 3, 3:52 PM ET
>By JEANNINE AVERSA, Associated Press Writer
>
>The nation's unemployment rate shot up to 6 percent in
>April ó the highest point in nearly eight years ó as
>the lingering effects of last year's recession
>continued to batter workers.
>
><http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&ncid=716&e=1&u=/ap/20020503/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy_523>
>
>=====
>Kevin Dean
>Buffalo, NY
>ICQ: 8616001
>AIM: KDean75206
>Buffalo Activist Network
>http://www.buffaloactivist.net
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>
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