LOL, in a small town you cant breakwind on one side without everyone knowing what you had for lunch on the other. Such news is fair but cannot be called unbiased.

Oh, the curtains, open all day and drawn at dusk. :-)

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Must not conflict resolve by suggesting that someone should go sit on an ice pick...

Ooooooh ID is a curtain twitcher, I always knew it!!!

new neighbours

I get my local news from the local rumor mill. Lady down the street is pregnant after her divorce. Some think the mailman is a father again.

The only thing I know for sure is it isn't me. I don't find her attractive.

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Must not conflict resolve by suggesting that someone should go sit on an ice pick...

Nothing is unbiased today, but some are less biased than others.

What's fair and unbiased?

Which way is the wind blowing today? It is a crap shoot.

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Gary, of course it's not mathmatically[sic] correct.

As so many "truths" are ...

But my main idea is correct. Labor participation rate is a better indication of what's going on than job numbers and unemployment claims.

Irrelevant if the FED focuses on the UI number to make the decision on QE.

With multiple news sources printing the same numbers but coming to opposite conclusions as to their meaning; that is relevant to the topic of the thread.

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I get my news from my smart phone. I read ABC News. My local local newspaper app. My local TV station news. and I just added BBC World. And thanks to Garys imput I will see if AP has an app.
I have allways been a newspaper reader, But now that they only print 3 times a week Ive been using an app to keep up on the local news.

Up untill last year when I got my smart phone I didnt see the need for one. But now I find it very usefull for keeping current on whats going on. Plus I like playing freecell:)

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[/quote]

Old James

You folks ROCK! There is a balance here when one looks at that is presented. From that I can and do learn a lot. (^;

Guy - "This number is now the lowest it has been in 35 years." I can easily see that. There are lots of elements affecting this, etc. My wife is a good example. This might be one of the few places she shows up. She has been long time employable (sent her back to school to increase her degree and marketability) but still no work locally (five county radius in Washington State). So as to most fair and unbiased sources I would rate that one as fair but will always try to compare with another source.

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If the labor pool increases and the number of jobs available remains the same, the labor participation rate drops.
If the labor pool decreases and the number of jobs available remains the same, the labor participation rate increases.
If the labor pool increases and the number of jobs available increases, the labor participation rate remains the same.
If the labor pool decreases and the number of jobs available decreases, the labor participation rate remains the same.
...
I do have a graduate degree and I find that I'm capable of critical thought about issues outside my graduate degree.

Last time I took a math class your 3rd and 4th statements are not true.

Let LP = labor pool and JA = jobs available, both positive integers.

JA / LP = participation rate

Taking your 3rd statement where delta LP and delta JA are positive integers, You postulate:

JA / LP = (JA + delta JA) / (LP + delta LP)

I'll leave the proof as an exercise, it also will serve as proof given negative delta's.

And betreger is correct, this is not a good forum to discuss economics, but it is good to show about news sources and trust, including that not everything you read on the net is gospel.

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GUY, I would love to discuss economic theories with you, but I feel this forum is not the proper platform.
Regardless, most of the populous is not does not have the tools to evaluate the raw data, IMO.

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J Mercer,

What I'm pointing out is the percentage of people who CAN work who ARE working.

This is a way of looking at our job numbers without concern for the demographics of the baby boomers who are reaching social security age and are no longer in the market for a job.

Looking just at unemployment numbers (based on new unemployment insurance claims) and job creations (based on polling some of the bigger companies throughout the U.S.) is less informative of what's happening to our economy. And the numbers you see in the news (A) always come out late on Friday and (B) are almost always adjusted down a week or two later.

The labor participation rate is the percentage of people who CAN work who are currently employed.

If the labor pool increases and the number of jobs available remains the same, the labor participation rate drops.
If the labor pool decreases and the number of jobs available remains the same, the labor participation rate increases.
If the labor pool increases and the number of jobs available increases, the labor participation rate remains the same.
If the labor pool decreases and the number of jobs available decreases, the labor participation rate remains the same.

This number is now the lowest it has been in 35 years.

And these numbers are straight from the BLS. I understand your scepticism of numbers created from government sources. I am sceptical of numbers coming out of government sources also. The BLS doesn't paint as rosy a picture, so of course you're not going to see this chart very often in the news.

And betreger,

I do have a graduate degree and I find that I'm capable of critical thought about issues outside my graduate degree. Other people like Dr. Ben Carson (FOR PRESIDENT!) can do this also.

[bait] And of course, I'll never give you my opinion with out first consulting with Rush Limbaugh to find out what his opinion is so I can repeat what he says without having to think about it for myself. [/bait]

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Raw data such as Guy pointed out means little with out correlating with other raw data. To do that meaningfully one would have to have the functional equivalent of a graduate degree in economics, something most people don't have or want.
IMO, most people use their news sources to do that for them.

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Sorry I am not sure what you are pointing out. As to what ever the government publishes I look at it with some suspension first much like everything else.

I thought it was common knowledge that the work force is getting smaller just from baby boomers peaking out.

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Which is correct? I think they both are correct in the numbers used but that is all.

Which one do I believe? Neither for one is a forecast and the other is an analysis. For me both are opinion driven. Only the passing of time will prove or disprove either of these.

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I mostly boycott all Fox programs because I don't like Murdoch. In a miniscule way I hope to make his programs less attractive to advertisers.

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Which is correct?

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2013/09/06/august-employment-report-economy-analysis/2772907/

First Take: Jobs report nearly cinches Fed tapering

Now may not be the right time for the Federal Reserve to lay off on buying bonds, but today's jobs report basically cinches the notion that it will curtail its long-running stimulus very soon.

The economy added 169,000 jobs in August — a bit worse than the consensus estimate of 180,000, and in range of the prior 12 months' average of 189,000. The Fed has indicated clearly that maintaining the economy's path is enough for the central bank to wind down $85 billion of monthly bond buys to zero by mid-2014.

OR

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-06/treasuries-extend-gains-as-economy-adds-fewer-jobs-than-forecast.html

Treasury 10-Year Yields Drop From 3% High on Slowing Jobs Growth

Treasuries rose, pushing 10-year note yields down from 3 percent, after a report showed the U.S. added fewer jobs than forecast in August, damping speculation the Federal Reserve will slow bond purchases this month.

Yields advanced to a two-year high before the Labor Department report showed the economy added 169,000 jobs last month, compared with the median forecast of 180,000 in a Bloomberg News survey.

Both reports say the same thing about the number of jobs. One then without any other support launches into an opinion of what it means. The other presents some supporting numbers for their opinion.

Which one do you believe?

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