Well, they invented the entire rationale for a war. Why not a few jobs figures? All kidding aside, it's despicable. And these figures don't even take into account the number of unemployed workers who, once they exhaust their unemployment benefits, are dropped from the unemployment rolls. It's magic with numbers, and the only people enjoying the show are the CEOs of the Fortune 500 companies.
Tracey de Morsella <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: --- ~~C~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 20:39:10 -0600 > From: "~~C~~" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: An Economy Driven By Debt > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Don't Confuse the Jobs Hype with the Facts > By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS > The November payrolls job report was announced > Friday with the usual > misleading hype. Spinmeisters made the most out of > the 215,000 jobs. Looking > beyond the glitter at the real facts, this is what > we see. 21,000 of those > jobs were government jobs supported by taxpayers. > There were only 194,000 > new jobs in the private sector. > Of those new jobs, 37,000 are in construction and > only 11,000 are in > manufacturing. The bulk of the new > jobs--144,000--are in domestic services. > Wholesale and retail trade account for 20,000. Food > services and drinking > places (waitresses and bar tenders) account for > 38,000. > Health care and social assistance account for > 27,000. Professional and > business services account for 29,000. Financial > activities gained 13,000 > jobs. Transportation and warehousing gained 8,000 > jobs. > Very few of these jobs result in tradable services > that can be exported or > help to close the growing gap in the US balance of > trade. > The 11,000 new factory jobs and the 15,000 of the > previous month are a > relief from the usual loss. However, these gains are > more than offset by the > job cuts recently announced by General Motors and > Ford. > Despite the gain in jobs, total hours worked > declined as the average > workweek fell to 33.7 hours. The decline in the > labor force participation > rate, a consequence of the shrinkage in well-paying > jobs, masks a higher > rate of unemployment than the reported 5 percent. > The ratio of employment to > population fell again in November. > Average hourly earnings (up 3.2 percent over the > last year) are not keeping > up with the consumer price index (up 4.3 percent). > Consequently, real incomes are falling. > This is not the picture of a healthy economy in > which growth in high > productivity, high value-added jobs fuel the growth > in consumer demand and > provide savings to finance Washington's red ink. > What we are looking at is > an economy that is coming unglued from the loss of > jobs that provide ladders > of upward mobility and from massive trade and budget > deficits that are > resulting in unsustainable growth in indebtedness to > foreigners. > The consumer price index measures inflation at 4.3 > percent over the past > year. Many people, experiencing household budgets > severely impacted by fuel > prices and grocery bills, find this figure > unrealistically low. PNC > Financial Services has a Christmas price index > consisting of the gifts in > the song, "The 12 Days of Christmas." The index > reports that the cost of the > collection of gifts has risen 6 percent since last > Christmas. Some of the > gifts have risen substantially in price. Gold rings > are up 27.5 percent, and > pear trees are up 15.4 percent. The cost of labor > (drummers drumming, > maids-a-milking) has remained the same. > Populations are hard pressed when the prices of > goods rise relative to the > price of labor, because this makes it impossible for > the population to > maintain its standard of living. > The US economy has been kept alive by low interest > rates, which fueled a > real estate boom. Consumers have kept growth alive > by refinancing their home > mortgages and spending the equity in their houses. > Their indebtedness has > risen. > Debt-fueled growth is qualitatively different from > economic growth that > results from an increase in high value-added jobs. > Economists who look at > the 3+ percent economic growth rate and conclude > that things are fine are > fooling themselves and the public. When the real > estate boom ends, what will > be the source of new spending power? > Paul Craig Roberts has held a number of academic > appointments and has contributed to numerous > scholarly publications. He served as Assistant > Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan > administration. His graduate economics education was > at the University of Virginia, the University of > California at Berkeley, and Oxford University. He is > coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions. He can > be reached at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com SPONSORED LINKS Science fiction and fantasy Music genres Genre magazine --------------------------------- YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS Visit your group "scifinoir2" on the web. To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --------------------------------- "Excuse me while I whip this out." Cleavon Little , "Blazing Saddles" --------------------------------- Yahoo! Shopping Find Great Deals on Holiday Gifts at Yahoo! Shopping [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Life without art & music? Keep the arts alive today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/7zgKlB/dnQLAA/Zx0JAA/LRMolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
