BLS

September Unemployment Rate Down

October 7, 2017 by Tim McMahon

On Friday October 6^th the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released their monthly employment survey results for the month of September. Every month the BLS conducts two surveys one contacts a sampling of households and the other collects data from businesses. Then they massage some of the numbers to “Seasonally Adjust” them and release them to the media.

According to the BLS, the current “Seasonally Adjusted” Unemployment Rate for September (released October 6^th) is 4.2% DOWN from 4.4% in August. The current “Unadjusted” rate is 4.1% down from 4.5% in August.

Seasonal adjustment provides something like a moving average leveling out the bumps due to normal seasonal variations. See: Unadjusted vs. Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate for more information about Seasonal Adjustment.

According to the BLS Commissioner’s report for this month:

“The unemployment rate declined to 4.2 percent in September, and total nonfarm payroll employment changed little (-33,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. A sharp employment decline in food services and drinking places and below-trend growth in some other industries likely reflected the impact of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. “

See: Current Unemployment Rate Chart for more info.

In the very next paragraph, based on the Household Unemployment Survey, he said, “The unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage point to 4.2 percent in September, and the number of unemployed persons declined by 331,000 to 6.8 million. Both measures were down over the year.”

Declining unemployment means more jobs! So which is it 331,000 more jobs? -33,000 fewer jobs? Or 340,000 more jobs? [Read more…] about September Unemployment Rate Down

New Unemployment Numbers- February

March 13, 2017 by Tim McMahon

On Friday March 10^th the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released their Employment and Unemployment numbers for February 2017. The media was making a big deal about these numbers because they represent the “First full month since Trump took office”.

The numbers turned out to be moderately “Bullish” although the Commissioner’s statement said, “Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 235,000 in February, and the unemployment rate was little changed at 4.7 percent. Employment gains occurred in construction, private educational services, manufacturing, health care, and mining.”

Now, I’m not complaining… gaining 235,000 jobs is certainly better than losing them but what’s the big deal? Well, first of all, the big deal is that [Read more…] about New Unemployment Numbers- February

August Unemployment Numbers- 4.9%

September 2, 2016 by Tim McMahon

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Unemployment numbers for the month of August on Friday September 2^nd. The commonly quoted Seasonally Adjusted U-3 Unemployment rate was 4.9% for the third month in a row. The unadjusted U-3 Unemployment rate was 5.0% and Gallup’s equivalent was 5.4% for a “mere” 0.4% difference.

The broader U-6 Unemployment rate (also unadjusted) which includes “discouraged workers”, “marginally attached workers” and Part time workers who want to work full-time was 9.7% in August while Gallup’s equivalent which they call the “Underemployment rate” was 3.4% higher at 13.1%. The civilian non-institutional population increased another 234,000 this month bringing it to 253,854,000.

According to the BLS Commissioner’s report for this month:

“Nonfarm payroll employment increased by [seasonally adjusted~ editor] 151,000 in August, and the unemployment rate remained at 4.9 percent. Employment continued to trend up in several service-providing industries. Incorporating revisions for June and July, which reduced nonfarm payroll employment by 1,000 on net, monthly job gains have averaged 232,000 over the past 3 months. In the 12 months prior to August, employment growth averaged 204,000 per month. Employment in food services and drinking places continued to trend up in August (+34,000). Over the year, the industry has added 312,000 jobs… Mining employment continued on a downward trend in August (-4,000). Although job losses have moderated in the last 3 months, employment in mining has fallen by 223,000 since a peak in September 2014.”

In other words, the vast majority of the jobs [Read more…] about August Unemployment Numbers- 4.9%

BLS Releases October Employment Figures

November 6, 2015 by Tim McMahon

Current Unemployment Rate Chart

According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data release on November 6th the current “Seasonally Adjusted” Unemployment Rate for October is 5.0% down from September’s 5.1% which was down significantly from last October’s 5.8%. The “Unadjusted” rate is 4.8% down from 5.6% in July and much lower than January’s 6.1%. See: Current Chart

According to the BLS, the U-6 Unemployment Rate for October was 9.5%. U-6 unemployment includes short-term discouraged workers who have given up looking for work because they feel there is no work available for them.

However, since 2010, Gallup (the survey/Pollsters) have been doing their own employment survey using basically the same parameters as the BLS and they conclude that the current U-6 (which they call the “UnderEmployment Rate) is actually 13.8% down from 14.1% in September.

According to John William’s Shadowstats the government began underestimating unemployment back in 1994 when they changed the way unemployment was calculated since “long-term discouraged workers were defined out of official existence”. The new U-6 numbers only include short-term discouraged workers. The following chart shows their calculations for Unemployment based on their estimates of what it would be if unemployment was calculated the pre-1994 way.

Current Employment Data

According to the current Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the employment situation for the month of October 2015 was as follows: The number of Unadjusted jobs reported for October 2015 was 143.739 million. That was up from June’s previous peak of 142.836 million.

For more information see: Current Employment Data

Current Employment vs Unemployment Chart

When looking at employment vs. unemployment you would think that they would simply be the inverse of each other. Flip one over and you have the other. But the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) actually uses two entirely different surveys to calculate them. So by comparing them we can spot irregularities. See Employment vs. Unemployment for more information.

Historical Employment Data

In this chart we can see the historical employment figures from 1939 through the present. But in addition to the number of jobs we can also see the recessions shaded blue.

See: Historical Employment Levels for more information.

The misery index combines two factors that can make life difficult for people i.e. unemployment and inflation. High levels of price inflation (rapidly rising prices) will cause households to have difficulty affording the basic necessities while high unemployment will leave a high percentage of households without any income at all.

See: InflationData’s Misery Index.

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate

The U-3 Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate is the standard unemployment rate that the government prefers to use since it presents a much rosier picture than the U-6. Go here if you would like to see the “Unemployment Rate” in table form.

Unadjusted vs. Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate

Although the Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate is often quoted by the main stream media (MSM) people often wonder how much fudging goes on in the adjustment process. In this chart you can see how the Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate compares with the Unadjusted rate.

Although it doesn’t appear that there is much “fudging” going on with the Seasonal adjustments that doesn’t mean the numbers are without problems. See Is the Government Fudging the Unemployment numbers for some alternative ways to get a better picture of the employment situation.

See Also:

What is U-6 Unemployment for more information about the different definitions of unemployment.
Current U-6 Unemployment Rate
What is the Real Unemployment Rate?

High Paid Miners Now Working at Walmart?

October 2, 2015 by Tim McMahon

September Employment Numbers Disappointing

Apparently U.S. employers cut back on hiring over the last two months. The expectation by economists polled by Reuters was that there would be a net gain of 203,000 jobs in September.

But when the BLS released their “preliminary estimates” for the employment situation for September non-farm employment rose by only 142,000 in September. And to make matters worse, August numbers were adjusted down resulting in the smallest Seasonally adjusted two month gain in over a year.

The BLS Commissioner’s report stated, “Job gains occurred in health care and information, while mining employment fell… The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks increased by 268,000 to 2.4 million in September, partially offsetting a decline in August… Thus far in 2015, job growth has averaged 198,000 per month, compared with an average monthly gain of 260,000 in 2014.”

So 2015 has averaged only 76% the job growth that 2014 had and at 142,000 September was only 54% of 2014’s average. 34,000 new jobs were created by healthcare, 31,000 came from professional and business services, 24,000 from retail trade employment, and food services and drinking places added 21,000 jobs. On the other hand, mining and mining support lost -17,000 jobs. So it appears all the high paid mining workers are now working at either McDonald’s or Walmart. Not a good trend at all!

See Current Employment Commentary for more information.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also released the newest unemployment data for September 2015 today. According to the BLS, the current “Seasonally Adjusted” Unemployment Rate for September is 5.1% identical to August. The BLS reported the “Unadjusted” Unemployment Rate is 4.9% which is lower than August’s 5.2% . See Current Unemployment Chart for more information.

In our chart of employment vs. unemployment we compare them and although you would expect that employment and unemployment are simply the inverse of each other (i.e flip one over and you have the other) actually there are several anomalies in the data. Because the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) uses two separate surveys to calculate the data it helps us see [Read more…] about High Paid Miners Now Working at Walmart?

August Unemployment Down

September 4, 2015 by Tim McMahon

The BLS issued their “preliminary estimates” for the employment situation for the month of August 2015. The Commissioner’s report regarding the Seasonally Adjusted numbers says, “Nonfarm payroll employment increased by 173,000 in August, and the unemployment rate edged down to 5.1 percent. Employment rose in health care and social assistance and in financial activities, while manufacturing and mining employment declined.”

The full report of unadjusted numbers states that there were 142.126 Million jobs in August compared to 141.794 million jobs in July and 142.868 million jobs in June.

See Current Employment Commentary for more information.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also released the newest unemployment data for August 2015 today. According to the BLS, the current “Seasonally Adjusted” Unemployment Rate for July is 5.1% down from July’s 5.3%. The BLS reported the “Unadjusted” Unemployment Rate is 5.2% which is lower than July’s 5.6% . See Current Unemployment Chart for more information.

March 2015 Unemployment Flat

April 3, 2015 by Tim McMahon

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the March Unemployment figures on Friday April 3^rd. According to the BLS the Current Unemployment Rate (Seasonally adjusted) for March was 5.5% unchanged from February. The Unadjusted Unemployment rate however fell from 5.8% to 5.6%. However, according to Gallup the Unadjusted Unemployment rate was actually 6.5% and the U-6 unemployment rate was 15.6% down from 16.1% in February.

Unemployment Numbers According to Gallup

	Unadjusted U-3	Unadjusted U-6
BLS	5.6%	11.0%
Gallup	6.5%	15.6%
Difference	0.9%	4.7%

Once again the BLS numbers are quite a bit different than the [Read more…] about March 2015 Unemployment Flat

BLS Recovering From Shutdown

October 19, 2013 by Tim McMahon

The government shutdown is over and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is recovering from their unscheduled vacation. The United States federal government shutdown of 2013, lasted from October 1 to 17, 2013. Unemployment data for the month of September was due to be released on October 4th i.e. four working days into the shutdown.

So the employment data is now scheduled for release on October 22nd. And the Consumer Price Index which is used to calculate the inflation rate, which was scheduled for release on October 16th is now scheduled for release on October 30th.

Although the shutdown inconvenienced vacationers wanting to see National Monuments and the National Zoo, did it really save any money? If past shutdowns are any indicator… probably not. Government employees will probably [Read more…] about BLS Recovering From Shutdown

Government Shutdown Delays Unemployment Data

October 4, 2013 by Tim McMahon

Due to the government shutdown the Bureau of Labor Statistics is not publishing the regular Unemployment statistics.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President, Dennis Lockhart, says that it is fortunate that the FED chose not to begin “tapering” the money stimulus under the circumstances. “We avoided a potentially very awkward situation of reducing stimulus just on the eve of what now has developed” he said.

Whether the Quantitative Easing is actually having much of an effect on unemployment or not is a discussion for another day. But as we said in a recent article entitled: What’s So Bad about Shutting the Government Down? since we don’t have BLS numbers we will turn to the free market and get our numbers elsewhere. Besides, free market numbers are probably more accurate anyway.

Speaking of accuracy, according to [Read more…] about Government Shutdown Delays Unemployment Data

BLS Changes Employment Numbers

April 5, 2013 by Tim McMahon

For a few months now I’ve been ranting about how there is no way that the Unemployment numbers are right because they don’t match up with the employment numbers. A while back, I got an angry email from a subscriber saying that he “worked for the Treasury Department for 35 years and there was no way the BLS fudged any numbers.” So I responded and said I’d be happy to post his rebuttal if he could explain how those numbers could possibly match up… I’m still waiting for his response.

In February, I got an answer, not directly mind you, but when I looked at the January Employment numbers they have magically changed all the way back to July of 1991. Yes, “unadjusted” employment numbers have been adjusted, changed, fudged, manipulated whatever you want to call it.

In July 1991 and preceding, the numbers are the same. In August 1991, the difference is minuscule only 1000 mysterious jobs have been added. But the difference continues to grow. And by December of 2012 the old number was 134.822 million and the new number is 135.545 million so somehow magically the BLS has created 723,000 jobs out of thin air.

Who do they think they are to create Jobs out of thin air, the FED?

We know the FED can create money out of thin air, so maybe the BLS can do the same with jobs?

By the way the BLS does say that the numbers are “Preliminary” for 2 months so theoretically they could legitimately adjust the November and December numbers… but going all the way back to 1991 is a bit much! But, if I were to fudge numbers that is exactly what I would do …gradually adjust them from way back so there isn’t a sharp disconnect between the old series and the new.

Here is a chart of the old employment vs. new fudged numbers since 2000.

Note where the 738,000 jobs difference occurs.

Click for larger image

I contacted the Bureau of Labor Statistics and asked why the numbers were changed. I received a curt reply pointing me to the “answer” on their website. It starts out with all this mumbo-jumbo about this minor change from April 2010 – March 2011 and goes on for a couple of paragraphs about it and then they slide in one key sentence with no fanfare “oh by the way we changed all the employment numbers back to 1991 too.”

Here is the BLS Response:

Reconstructed data

In order to provide a continuous and comparable employment time series, CES decided to reconstruct the history for one CES series, 55-524126 Direct property and casualty insurers, impacted by the changes to noncovered employment incorporated with the 2011 benchmark (see www.bls.gov/ces/cesbmart11.pdf). CES determined that the history of this series did not capture a significant amount of noncovered employment and instead showed a level shift in the series from April 2010 to March 2011, where the noncovered employment, calculated from County Business Patterns (CBP) data, was first included. CES uses CBP data to calculate the majority of noncovered employment. The CBP — which draws from Social Security filings and other records which do include those employees not covered by UI tax laws — is lagged in its publication by approximately two years (e.g. in 2012 the 2010 CBP data was published). For more information about calculating noncovered employment, see bls.gov/web/empsit/cestn.htm#NCE

CBP data was used to reconstruct AE data for CES series 55-524126 back to 1991 in order to incorporate the noncovered employment in the history. From the reconstructed AE data, the remaining published data types were produced using the previously published sample ratios.

This reconstruction also resulted in revisions back to 1991 for the associated aggregate series, including but not limited to Total nonfarm, in the associated data types.

So even though according to the BLS they survey employers to find out how many people are employed they somehow figure they aren’t counting everyone, so they need to fudge the numbers except they call it “reconstructing” because they somehow aren’t counting all the “Property and Casualty insurers”. So back in 1991 this was 1000 and now they are missing 3/4 of a million of them. Sounds like the Property and Casualty business must be booming to go from 1,000 to 738,000 since 1991. (Emphasis mine- the BLS did not bold the statement.)

The following table includes all the original numbers and the new changed employment numbers from July 1991 through the current data. Note that in July 1991 and prior the numbers are identical. This data series is called “Not Seasonally Adjusted Numbers” Series CEU0000000001 but it seems a bit hypocritical to call them unadjusted at this point.

Date	New Data In Millions	Original Data In Millions	Difference
Jul-1991	107.982	107.982	0
Aug-1991	108.074	108.073	1,000
Sep-1991	108.791	108.785	6,000
Oct-1991	109.160	109.153	7,000
Nov-1991	109.175	109.166	9,000
Dec-1991	109.058	109.047	11,000
Jan-1992	106.671	106.659	12,000
Feb-1992	106.921	106.906	15,000
Mar-1992	107.440	107.424	16,000
Apr-1992	108.276	108.259	17,000
May-1992	109.083	109.065	18,000
Jun-1992	109.571	109.554	17,000
Jul-1992	108.554	108.537	17,000
Aug-1992	108.610	108.591	19,000
Sep-1992	109.394	109.372	22,000
Oct-1992	109.981	109.959	22,000
Nov-1992	110.223	110.200	23,000
Dec-1992	110.212	110.188	24,000
Jan-1993	108.047	108.021	26,000
Feb-1993	108.650	108.625	25,000
Mar-1993	109.083	109.057	26,000
Apr-1993	110.087	110.060	27,000
May-1993	111.050	111.021	29,000
Jun-1993	111.640	111.611	29,000
Jul-1993	110.771	110.742	29,000
Aug-1993	110.880	110.847	33,000
Sep-1993	111.868	111.831	37,000
Oct-1993	112.530	112.493	37,000
Nov-1993	112.878	112.837	41,000
Dec-1993	113.025	112.980	45,000
Jan-1994	110.777	110.730	47,000
Feb-1994	111.357	111.308	49,000
Mar-1994	112.332	112.283	49,000
Apr-1994	113.412	113.363	49,000
May-1994	114.423	114.376	47,000
Jun-1994	115.211	115.170	41,000
Jul-1994	114.265	114.226	39,000
Aug-1994	114.573	114.535	38,000
Sep-1994	115.631	115.591	40,000
Oct-1994	116.256	116.217	39,000
Nov-1994	116.863	116.826	37,000
Dec-1994	116.900	116.861	39,000
Jan-1995	114.591	114.552	39,000
Feb-1995	115.249	115.212	37,000
Mar-1995	116.005	115.971	34,000
Apr-1995	116.838	116.802	36,000
May-1995	117.562	117.524	38,000
Jun-1995	118.277	118.242	35,000
Jul-1995	117.044	117.008	36,000
Aug-1995	117.307	117.269	38,000
Sep-1995	118.221	118.180	41,000
Oct-1995	118.822	118.780	42,000
Nov-1995	119.060	119.016	44,000
Dec-1995	119.058	119.015	43,000
Jan-1996	116.358	116.315	43,000
Feb-1996	117.296	117.252	44,000
Mar-1996	118.099	118.055	44,000
Apr-1996	118.936	118.890	46,000
May-1996	120.063	120.016	47,000
Jun-1996	120.726	120.681	45,000
Jul-1996	119.689	119.643	46,000
Aug-1996	119.981	119.932	49,000
Sep-1996	120.724	120.672	52,000
Oct-1996	121.441	121.384	57,000
Nov-1996	121.899	121.841	58,000
Dec-1996	121.875	121.815	60,000
Jan-1997	119.331	119.269	62,000
Feb-1997	120.191	120.126	65,000
Mar-1997	121.073	121.007	66,000
Apr-1997	122.047	121.979	68,000
May-1997	123.125	123.053	72,000
Jun-1997	123.772	123.700	72,000
Jul-1997	122.786	122.710	76,000
Aug-1997	122.853	122.772	81,000
Sep-1997	123.857	123.770	87,000
Oct-1997	124.760	124.673	87,000
Nov-1997	125.153	125.063	90,000
Dec-1997	125.289	125.195	94,000
Jan-1998	122.736	122.636	100,000
Feb-1998	123.508	123.405	103,000
Mar-1998	124.227	124.122	105,000
Apr-1998	125.265	125.160	105,000
May-1998	126.345	126.240	105,000
Jun-1998	127.005	126.902	103,000
Jul-1998	125.931	125.832	99,000
Aug-1998	126.170	126.069	101,000
Sep-1998	126.977	126.874	103,000
Oct-1998	127.754	127.650	104,000
Nov-1998	128.155	128.051	104,000
Dec-1998	128.322	128.215	107,000
Jan-1999	125.570	125.460	110,000
Feb-1999	126.557	126.445	112,000
Mar-1999	127.269	127.158	111,000
Apr-1999	128.415	128.305	110,000
May-1999	129.284	129.176	108,000
Jun-1999	130.010	129.906	104,000
Jul-1999	129.140	129.039	101,000
Aug-1999	129.194	129.093	101,000
Sep-1999	129.970	129.866	104,000
Oct-1999	130.904	130.803	101,000
Nov-1999	131.364	131.263	101,000
Dec-1999	131.501	131.402	99,000
Jan-2000	128.862	128.763	99,000
Feb-2000	129.525	129.427	98,000
Mar-2000	130.624	130.526	98,000
Apr-2000	131.622	131.526	96,000
May-2000	132.577	132.481	96,000
Jun-2000	133.089	132.998	91,000
Jul-2000	131.869	131.776	93,000
Aug-2000	131.880	131.786	94,000
Sep-2000	132.547	132.449	98,000
Oct-2000	133.104	133.007	97,000
Nov-2000	133.467	133.371	96,000
Dec-2000	133.405	133.308	97,000
Jan-2001	130.527	130.433	94,000
Feb-2001	131.190	131.097	93,000
Mar-2001	131.780	131.689	91,000
Apr-2001	132.185	132.094	91,000
May-2001	132.890	132.800	90,000
Jun-2001	133.267	133.179	88,000
Jul-2001	131.776	131.687	89,000
Aug-2001	131.704	131.614	90,000
Sep-2001	131.968	131.872	96,000
Oct-2001	132.168	132.072	96,000
Nov-2001	131.976	131.880	96,000
Dec-2001	131.591	131.491	100,000
Jan-2002	128.706	128.602	104,000
Feb-2002	129.174	129.069	105,000
Mar-2002	129.778	129.672	106,000
Apr-2002	130.364	130.257	107,000
May-2002	131.131	131.023	108,000
Jun-2002	131.511	131.404	107,000
Jul-2002	130.068	129.960	108,000
Aug-2002	130.153	130.044	109,000
Sep-2002	130.670	130.557	113,000
Oct-2002	131.339	131.227	112,000
Nov-2002	131.458	131.345	113,000
Dec-2002	131.045	130.932	113,000
Jan-2003	128.358	128.248	110,000
Feb-2003	128.769	128.660	109,000
Mar-2003	129.258	129.148	110,000
Apr-2003	129.908	129.801	107,000
May-2003	130.663	130.559	104,000
Jun-2003	130.989	130.890	99,000
Jul-2003	129.646	129.550	96,000
Aug-2003	129.697	129.601	96,000
Sep-2003	130.351	130.253	98,000
Oct-2003	131.142	131.045	97,000
Nov-2003	131.302	131.208	94,000
Dec-2003	131.120	131.026	94,000
Jan-2004	128.458	128.365	93,000
Feb-2004	129.067	128.976	91,000
Mar-2004	130.107	130.019	88,000
Apr-2004	131.224	131.139	85,000
May-2004	132.127	132.047	80,000
Jun-2004	132.569	132.495	74,000
Jul-2004	131.405	131.334	71,000
Aug-2004	131.421	131.351	70,000
Sep-2004	132.133	132.068	65,000
Oct-2004	133.111	133.050	61,000
Nov-2004	133.360	133.301	59,000
Dec-2004	133.129	133.074	55,000
Jan-2005	130.423	130.369	54,000
Feb-2005	131.245	131.195	50,000
Mar-2005	132.083	132.038	45,000
Apr-2005	133.294	133.247	47,000
May-2005	134.104	134.058	46,000
Jun-2005	134.769	134.728	41,000
Jul-2005	133.705	133.665	40,000
Aug-2005	133.951	133.910	41,000
Sep-2005	134.576	134.533	43,000
Oct-2005	135.302	135.260	42,000
Nov-2005	135.857	135.817	40,000
Dec-2005	135.655	135.614	41,000
Jan-2006	133.000	132.961	39,000
Feb-2006	133.924	133.887	37,000
Mar-2006	134.903	134.868	35,000
Apr-2006	135.816	135.780	36,000
May-2006	136.621	136.584	37,000
Jun-2006	137.121	137.083	38,000
Jul-2006	135.945	135.908	37,000
Aug-2006	136.149	136.110	39,000
Sep-2006	136.817	136.777	40,000
Oct-2006	137.516	137.475	41,000
Nov-2006	137.898	137.857	41,000
Dec-2006	137.786	137.747	39,000
Jan-2007	134.994	134.952	42,000
Feb-2007	135.683	135.641	42,000
Mar-2007	136.576	136.533	43,000
Apr-2007	137.381	137.335	46,000
May-2007	138.323	138.277	46,000
Jun-2007	138.825	138.779	46,000
Jul-2007	137.425	137.379	46,000
Aug-2007	137.534	137.488	46,000
Sep-2007	138.096	138.046	50,000
Oct-2007	138.835	138.786	49,000
Nov-2007	139.143	139.090	53,000
Dec-2007	138.929	138.875	54,000
Jan-2008	135.896	135.840	56,000
Feb-2008	136.414	136.356	58,000
Mar-2008	137.003	136.944	59,000
Apr-2008	137.535	137.475	60,000
May-2008	138.105	138.045	60,000
Jun-2008	138.296	138.237	59,000
Jul-2008	136.811	136.751	60,000
Aug-2008	136.697	136.635	62,000
Sep-2008	136.748	136.686	62,000
Oct-2008	137.038	136.973	65,000
Nov-2008	136.355	136.288	67,000
Dec-2008	135.321	135.254	67,000
Jan-2009	131.627	131.555	72,000
Feb-2009	131.387	131.314	73,000
Mar-2009	131.249	131.175	74,000
Apr-2009	131.429	131.357	72,000
May-2009	131.697	131.626	71,000
Jun-2009	131.510	131.442	68,000
Jul-2009	129.910	129.844	66,000
Aug-2009	129.786	129.719	67,000
Sep-2009	130.144	130.077	67,000
Oct-2009	130.741	130.673	68,000
Nov-2009	130.787	130.720	67,000
Dec-2009	130.242	130.178	64,000
Jan-2010	127.374	127.309	65,000
Feb-2010	127.811	127.746	65,000
Mar-2010	128.646	128.584	62,000
Apr-2010	129.770	129.698	72,000
May-2010	130.886	130.801	85,000
Jun-2010	131.004	130.908	96,000
Jul-2010	129.664	129.569	95,000
Aug-2010	129.728	129.624	104,000
Sep-2010	130.221	130.090	131,000
Oct-2010	131.195	131.071	124,000
Nov-2010	131.502	131.371	131,000
Dec-2010	131.199	131.050	149,000
Jan-2011	128.338	128.183	155,000
Feb-2011	129.154	128.994	160,000
Mar-2011	130.061	129.899	162,000
Apr-2011	131.279	131.072	207,000
May-2011	131.963	131.707	256,000
Jun-2011	132.453	132.144	309,000
Jul-2011	131.181	130.821	360,000
Aug-2011	131.457	131.058	399,000
Sep-2011	132.204	131.746	458,000
Oct-2011	133.125	132.870	255,000
Nov-2011	133.456	133.172	284,000
Dec-2011	133.292	132.965	327,000
Jan-2012	130.657	130.297	360,000
Feb-2012	131.604	131.210	394,000
Mar-2012	132.505	132.081	424,000
Apr-2012	133.400	132.945	455,000
May-2012	134.213	133.723	490,000
Jun-2012	134.556	134.072	484,000
Jul-2012	133.368	132.868	500,000
Aug-2012	133.753	133.092	661,000
Sep-2012	134.374	133.797	577,000
Oct-2012	135.241	134.792	449,000
Nov-2012	135.636	135.069	567,000
Dec-2012	135.560	134.822	738,000

So there you have it, the BLS decided to “reconstruct” the employment numbers. Gives you lots of confidence in their reporting doesn’t it? Plus this new fudge factor is now “baked in the cake” so all new numbers after January will have it already fudged in so we will never know what the real numbers are.

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Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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