The desiccated right-wing blog that CNSNews.com has been reduced to apparently still has to do some semblence of “business and economic reporting” because of a gift the the Media Research Center in memory of former MRC board member Keith C. Wold. Thus, we are still graced with slanted and cherry-picked monthly reports on employment. Craig Bannister — the blogger who’s the only person left from when CNS was a “news” operation — served up the usual bias on August’s employment numbers in a Sept. 1 post:
In August, the unemployment rate jumped 0.3 points, from 3.5% 3.8%, as the number of long-term unemployed increased, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday.
The nation’s unemployment rate jumped 0.3 percentage point to 3.8% in August, as the number of unemployed persons increased by 514,000 to 6.4 million.
Among the unemployed, the number of job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs increased by 294,000 to 2.9 million in August, offsetting a decrease of 280,000 in July.
The rise in the unemployment rate, coupled an increase in job losers, highlights ongoing challenges in the economy. Meanwhile, the number of persons employed part-time for economic reasons remained unchanged.
[…]Adding to concerns, the BLS reported that the economy’s picture in recent months wasn’t as rosy as it initially reported:
- Total nonfarm payroll employment for June was revised down by 80,000, from +185,000 to +105,000.
- July was revised down by 30,000, from +187,000 to +157,000.
- Due to these revisions, employment in June and July combined was actually 110,000 lower than previously reported.
- The downward revisions make August look better in comparison, by comparing it to lower numbers in June and July.
Bannister’s Oct. 6 post on September’s numbers triedto be as blase as possible that the numbers stayed good:
Total nonfarm payroll employment rose by a surprisingly-high 336,000 in September, but most other economic indicators – such as the unemployment rate – showed little change from August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported Friday.
September’s seasonally-adjusted 3.8% unemployment was unchanged from the previous month, as the number of unemployed persons remained at 6.4 million.
Both posts were described as having been “funded in part” by the Wold gift. One has to wonder if the Wold family is happy that their gift is now attached to a right-wing blog instead of something that at least tried to pass for “news.”