CNN's Velshi falsely claimed Feb. unemployment rate dropped to "a historic low"
In a March 9 report on the recently released unemployment rate by the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), CNN senior business correspondent Ali Velshi falsely claimed that "[t]he unemployment rate has dropped in the United States to a historic low of 4.5 percent." In fact, not only is the unemployment rate not at a "historic low," but the current 4.5 percent rate is still higher than when President Bush took office in January 2001. At that time, the rate was 4.2 percent, as Media Matters for America has documented. In its December 2000 report, the BLS further reported that "[t]he jobless rate had ranged from 3.9 to 4.1 percent since October 1999."
This is not the first time Velshi has overstated the historical significance of certain economic indicators. On October 19, 2006, he reported that the Dow Jones industrial average had been setting "record after record after record," but failed to adjust for inflation, which would have shown that the Dow was well below its peak set in January 2000, as Media Matters noted.
From the March 9 edition of CNN's American Morning:
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN (host): Well, you know, one of the most important measures of our country's economic health is the unemployment rate, and it was released just a moment ago. Ali Velshi's going to join us in a second with the jobs report. Ali, hey.
VELSHI: Soledad, the numbers just come in. The unemployment rate has dropped in the United States to a historic low of 4.5 percent. It was 4.6 percent going into this report. There were even some people who thought it might tick up to 4.7 percent. The expectation was that 100,000 new jobs will be created in the United States in February. They came in at 97,000 jobs -- that's pretty much dead on. Four-point-five percent as a national unemployment rate is good news for workers because it means more demand for workers, and they can demand higher wages.
It's generally good news right now, because it also means that while more people are employed, more people can spend money, and while we've been having these discussions about the possibility of a recession, more people earning money means lower chances of unemployment. It makes people feel better about the economy.
Now going into this report, the futures were indicating a lower open on the markets. This could change things. We could see a better day on the markets. We're working to recover some of the heavy losses we've seen in the last 10 days on the stock market.
So the news here, the big news here, is that the unemployment rate is down by one-tenth of 1 percent to 4.5 percent. We're less than an hour away from the opening of markets. This is going to have quite an impact on trading today.
I am not sure why Velshi would say that lie. I watch him and I do not see him as pro Bush at all. Regardless , the e
I am not sure why Velshi would say that lie. I watch him and I do not see him as pro Bush at all. Regardless , the economy getting good news is good for all Americans regardless of politics. It helps us
I am not sure why Velshi would say that lie. I watch him and I do not see him as pro Bush at all. Regardless , the economy getting good news is good for all Americans regardless of politics. It helps us all.
Sure did -- the market was up an anemic .13 of a percent.
Is it so very hard to get known, published facts right? If CNN fails at the simple truth, is it any wonder they get the complicated stories (and assorted right wing noise machine tempests) wrong?
But is this right wing talking points, or just driven by people who want the market to do better (for financial gain) and not driven by partisan politics?
I would settle for an "anemic" .13 percent per day, think that would work out to around 30% per year.
Yes but would you settle for that anemic rise just days after a drop that wiped out ALL the increases of the last six years since THAT is what happened?
The drop did not "wipe out" the past six years. The runup over the past few months, in my opinion, was too steep and I could sense a market correction. This we saw over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, the market will settle and we will see a long series of small daily growth. .13% daily won't happen because 30% yearly growth is not sustainable in my mind(without creating monsterous inflation) Just as "irrational exhuberence" contributed to the amazing growth for a couple of years in the last 90's proved unsustainable (due to a lot of factors) Just trying to point out that small increases over time add up quite nicely at the end of a year. I would like to see about 4 years of 30% yearly growth, but I know it won't happen, so I will settle for the 8-10% that I have personally seen in the last 4 1/2 -5 years.
You are right I misread the original article it was STILL the worst drop in the last four of five years and lost a WHOLE lot more than the little blip recorded yesterday. The point is that it ISNT steady growth if there is a huge drop then the market correction is so paltry. I care a lot less about the stock market than I do about the median income. It is an indication that says more about the health of investors than it does about the economic news that matters to ordinary working people.
This is an amazing Administration.
The things they cannot control go terribly; for example, the Iraq war. Incompetence and corruption and mistakes abound.
But, the things the Executive Branch CAN control, for example how the "unemployment rate" is calculated, THAT number keeps coming in real good. We're nearing 100% employment! Isn't that great? Of course, people whose unemployment benefits have maxed out are removed from the unemployment roles, and people who are "no longer looking" for a job are not counted (although, it's a mystery how this is determined). There are thousands of small ways of "calculation" that can be employed to make America look more employed. All it takes is CONTROL ... being able to unilaterally manipulate the numbers.
I guess it's good that we see ONE thing this Administration is competent at doing. Fooling the American People.
This is outstanding news! (end sarcasm here)
Now, how many of us can afford health care coverage? How many of us work for poverty wages?
Poverty wages? Man, you must be crazy!
Ok, that above is crazy.
If we kicked all the illegal aliens out, there would be no unemployment issues. Or shoudl i say, minimal. Just imagine all the car washes, and burger joints, construction sites ect, worked by American Citizens. Oh those would be prosperous days.
Yeah right, Evil. Three words for you: Guest Worker Program.
If companies can't outsource jobs they'll just import endentured servants. Besides, if companies paid living wages for jobs undocumented workers perform then American citizens could afford to do those jobs. But companies won't pay living wages and under market fundamentalist control they will never have to pay for the true value of labor.
So keep blaming immigrants for everything, Evil. Hate groups across the country thank you for echoing their recruitment propaganda.
Plenty of hate here.
Besides ignoring everything I wrote, what point are you trying to make?
Roundhouse,
try to forget Right and Left for a moment and just face economic fundamentals: If your car wash or landscape business does not have an oversupply of available labor (equals lower wages), then you have to pay more to entice people to work for you. If there's a shortage of available labor/clerical/skilled, and if you're not paying enough, they're moving on to the next employer, and maybe one willing to TRAIN on the job (in the classifieds every day), just to get SOMEONE on the job.
With a neverending supply of cheap entry-level labor coming over the border, it will continue to depress wages; doesn't matter who's in charge in DC. It's just reality.
Huh? Where have I heard that before........oh yeah 1880's. Check it out some time, the cons on this board are basically using the same talking points used in the 1800's to try to limit Chinese immigration into the U.S.
Yeah it "worked" then too. Anti-Chinese laws forced almost every immigrant into small communities. And then to top it all off angry bands of "whites" attacked these communities and killed large numbers of people and left many injured for life.
I especially liked the law that was passed that said, if a Chinese American went back to China to visit family, they would be denied re-entry into the United States (even if they were citizens and had families here). I'll give you one guess which party sponsored that bill. Here's a clue, it starts with R.
Maybe when you con's (if you ever) read the facts regarding illegal immigration you'll see it for what it really is. Maybe even learn a little about our great country's history too.
This is something that comes up every ten to twenty years in this country. And its always the same propaganda. Did you know that the average Mexican immigrant in this country, learns English at rates much higher than any other immigrant group to come here? That by the 4th or 5th generation most do not even speak English.
Look at some of the claims about "crime waves" and "violent attacks" by illegals. These are "cherry picked" stories, used to install fear and loathing. I mean to say, if to use some conservatives' illegal immigration "figures", there are 8 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., and in a year 3 commit a violent crime. That still leaves 7,999,997 who have not. Hardly a "crime wave." Conservatives also like to us samplings that include all Hispanics to try and prove their points, no matter how long you've been a citizen here (like in one funny case I'm trying to find my link too, this guy became the poster boy for anti-immigrant groups in Texas and other areas, although his ancestors where living in Texas when it became a State in the Union.)
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137835401427
" These results cast doubt on the hypothesis that immigration causes crime and make more transparent the immigration and criminal justice policies that inflate the rate of Hispanic incarceration. This transparency helps to resolve a paradox in the picture of Mexican immigration to the United States, since by most measures of well-being, Mexican immigrants are found to do as well and sometimes better than citizens."
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-7791%28199911%2946%3A4%3C617%3ASCATMO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-W&size=LARGE#abstract
another one:
Justice Department Link
And I thought this one was just too funny :) Hey! sure lets build a fence! There are a lot of illegal immigrants who need jobs.
NPR
Unemployment figures don't take in to account people who aren't have exceeded their unemployment payment weeks or people who would like to re-enter the work force, but can't find acceptable wages, you know enough pay to get insurance or pay for child care, etc.
The "economy is getting good" for between 1/10% and maybe 5% of us. Everyone else is running in place - IF they are lucky. Childhood poverty is increasing and the middle class is disappearing.
I don't know anyone who's been getting annual raises that are doing more than keeping up with inflation. (These are people getting great performance reviews too.) Companies are severely limiting with whom they are willing to share the wealth. Companies are getting stingier with benefits too, so changing jobs isn't an attractive notion.
I guess what I am trying to says is, Doris quit super-multi-posting and then join the real world.
HMMMM....somewhere between 12 and 20 million illegals now reside in America. INCREASING the number of children in poverty and DECREASING americans who reside in the middle class. This is the real problem
Ignore the "aren't" on line 2 - didn't take it out before hitting POST. My bad.
One extra word, Detepe? you're no Doris.
No since I have no clue how to use a computer.;-)
Hey, I am with you on that.
I doubt this is right-wing media abuse. it's just some guy who is overexited and can't get his facts straight.
a historic low is a big fact. it's untrue.
I agree with your statement. Plus look at the guy, he has liberal written all over him. lol
You libs are so entertaining to listen to. The unemployment rate is under 5%!!!!!!
So yes, Clinton had it under 5 too (it is nice that you ignored the Republican Congress btw), But, so what...all this demonstrates is that we don't live in Soup line America as all of you would have us believe.
We have the more prosperity in this Country than we could ever imagine for ALL Americans, and you libs want to play it down b/c the unemployment rate is up or down a tenth of a point. We are under 5%!!!
more prosperity than we can imagine for ALL Americans is nonsense. The gains have gone to the wealthy, the middle class isnt holding its own.
http://www.gciu.org/whatsnew/05j-a/poverty05ja.shtml
Real median household income remained stagnant in 2004 for the second consecutive year, while the rate of poverty in the United States rose from 12.5 percent to 12.7 percent, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
In its annual population survey report, the Census Bureau said the percentage of the nation's population without health insurance remained unchanged at 15.7 percent in 2004, but the percentage of people with employment-based health insurance declined.
Real median earnings of men age 15 and older who worked full-time, year-round declined 2.3 percent over the year to $40,798. Earnings for women with similar work experience declined 1.0 percent to $31,223.
(so while the median INCOME has remained stagnant, have PRICES remained the same? No they havent the middle class is losing ground)
The Census Bureau said there were 37.0 million people in poverty in 2004–up from 35.9 million in 2003.
The number of people without health insurance increased by 800,000 to 45.8 million.
The percentage of people covered by employment-based health insurance declined from 60.4 percent in 2003 to 59.8 percent in 2004, the Census Bureau said.
Cut it out, Solon. All those numbers are confusing,As long as there are good military jobs and corporate profits, and the "people that count "are employed, everything's OK.
SOLON:
Maybe your raise last year didn't keep up with inflation, but that's because those things you HAVE to pay for have become enormously more expensive. Coming out of what USED to be your "disposable income" are higher health care, higher energy, higher gasoline prices, higher local taxes, higher property taxes, and other fees that seek to make up for the fact that Republicans in charge of Congress for six years has "defunded" locally mandated programs. For example, "No Child Left Behind" had its funding left behind.
Happy-talk rightwingers seek to convince most of America that it's "don't worry, be HAPPY" time, because corporate profits are way up and Dick Cheney has become a multi-millionaire while in office.
Sorry. I live in the REAL world. The Balkanization of America into the Republican "haves" and the Democratic "have nots" is not cause for celebration. I read about a CEO's $400 million bonus, and then balance my checkbook. There is definitely CLASS WARFARE going on in America, and we average Americans are losing bigtime.
Tex, don't you know it's all the illegal aliens making things tight for us? Ignore the 400 million dollar bonus for the CEO, it's that guy mopping the can at Taco Bell that's rocking the boat.
And if you don't think anybody really believes this, check earlier posts in this very thread.
Solon,
Other very important numbers are left out. For example, where is the calculation for the annual appreciation in home value (tax free) enjoyed by the middle class? And it IS designed for the middle class: 250k for single, 500k for married, and has accrued in amounts as much as that during the last two and three years.
That's big, and a good thing for the middle class, and has also benefitted many below middle class. So it is an excellent argument for easy financing for housing for us common folk.
Another one is for new business startups, where up to 100k in normally depreciated items is allowed to be expensed (one-year), lowering the tax bite. This is used by legions of self-employed, could be a drywaller or a doctor, includes tools and machinery, office machines, maybe rolling stock (not sure), but is much more of a benefit to self-employed and small business than to large businesses.
It's not all gloom. The number of new LLC's and other single-person business started in the last 5 years is truly impressive.
The much ballyhooed Bush Jobs Creation Pipe Dream, has created on average 66,000 new jobs per month, verses Clinton's 237,000 average of 237,000 per month,according to the report to Congress Jan 7,2007
On October 19, 2006, he reported that the Dow Jones industrial average had been setting "record after record after record," but failed to adjust for inflation, which would have shown that the Dow was well below its peak set in January 2000, as Media Matters noted.
LOL. Nobody adjusts stock averages for inflation. That is just stupid. Would you adjust down if we had deflation?
1953 unemployment was 2.5 percent.
Guess Clinton's economy sucked. Dwight D. Eisenhower had it down shortly after taking over for Truman but then it was all downhill from there.
2.6 at the start of ike's term. 6.6 at the end.
Please note also that the BLS report cites a DECREASE of persons working in that timeframe, of 38,000. Not exactly what one would have hoped to see, in this "surging" economy that Bungle brags about!
timeframe = February, 2007
Sorry - *I* knew which timeframe I meant.
And Nazi Germany had 100% employment....you were either a soldier or a slave. Is that our future?
Most of you are partisan hacks talking hypocritically.
"Oh, unemployment doesn't matter in terms of the economy and the economy is stil 'bad'. Plus, Clinton has much better job rates and unemployment rates than Bush."
"Oh, Bush's numbers are great. Clinton's numbers? Well, don't ignore the Repub congress."
Please. Your day-to-day life AND the day-to-day life of America is much more influenced by Greenspan and Bernanke than any President.