Pangloss at the Times: There Are Plenty of Jobs, But They Are Just Not Plentiful Enough!

The mainstream media has outdone itself with lipsticking the pig with the NY Times article, Bright Spot in Downturn: New Hiring Is Robust. Sounds promising, eh? Let's see what the Times actually reports:

So, while 4.8 million workers were laid off or chose to leave their jobs in February, employers across the country hired 4.3 million workers that month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

DoctoRx here: Simply astounding. News you can use. Or something.

“The best thing you can say about these numbers is it speaks to the dynamism of the U.S. economy, and the net negative number that we all traffic in masks that,” said Robert J. Barbera, chief economist at ITG, a research and trading firm. “Ninety out of 100 people who know the number — 650,000 were lost in February — think that means no one was hired and 650,000 were fired.”

DoctoRx here. Did Dr. Barbera actually use the term "dynamism" to describe the U.S. economy??? I would think that "dynamiting" is more appropriate. Back to the whitewash of the greatest economic banana in quite some time:

Zachary Schaefer has hired 72 people since February for the Culver’s hamburger and frozen custard restaurant that he and several partners just opened in Surprise, Ariz.

“The amount of applicants who are qualified is definitely up,” he said. “Whereas before we were counting on a lot of high school applicants, now there are a lot more middle-age people applying.”

Eddie Hamm, a former construction worker, was unemployed for five months when he drove by the site where the Culver’s was under construction. Mr. Hamm, 29, applied for a job there, and now he’s a “fry guy.”

“I’m just happy I got hired — I didn’t want to stay home, not doing anything,” he said, hardly complaining that he is earning half the $15 an hour he made in construction. “I don’t look at it like I’m making $7.50. I look at it — I’m having a job in a down time, and it’s a job where I can move up.”

Economists and job counselors advise the unemployed that there are definitely jobs to be had, even if there aren’t nearly enough to go around. With 13.2 million people out of work, there are 4 1/3 unemployed Americans for every job opening.

DoctoRx here. Please reread that last paragraph: there are definitely jobs to be had, it's just that there aren't enough of them! I ask you: how can the Times possibly say that hiring is currently "robust"? Either they have gone insane over there, or they are spinning so furiously to put people in a good mood, especially those who glance at the headline without bothering to read the article, that they have gone way over the top. (I favor the latter option.)

In the meantime, if you want to get an opinion from one of the truly leading, sane, calm experts on financial crises, read the Bloomberg.com article on Dr. Ken Rogoff's views. He predicts that the economy will be so weak that another round of "stimulus", AKA deficit spending, AKA printing money, will be undertaken.


Copyright (C) Long Lake LLC 2009