Friday, April 4, 2008

Jobs Data: Media Obsesses on the "R" Word

AOL is now featuring a story about the economy losing 80,000 jobs last month (not a huge number, although confirming an economomic slowdown).  The typical "scare" headline "Job Losses Pointing to Recession".

Does this loss of jobs (affected by a United Auto Workers' strike, by the way) really "point toward a recession"?  Nope, despite the headline by the truly despicable Associated Press/AOL. 

The unemployment rate was at this same level in September of 2005, when the economy was gOODS (certainly did not go into recession).

You know what (although the despicable AP will not tell you this):  IT DOES NOT MATTER.  I am NOT saying that it does not matter that the economy has slowed down.   Obviously, that is not good (which makes ou wonder why we are still CRUCIGYING our economy on a cross of "global warming" that has STOPPED--see my AOL bnlog, "The Maverick Conservative").

But the Fed Chief has said that the economy most likely will grow a very little in the first half (no recession); or will stay about constant; or will contract A LITTLE (recession).  There is no MATERIAL difference in these scenarios--not great but not bad for a cyclical economic downturn aftaer a long expansion/boom.(booom in housing, which burst).

The sky is NOT falling (so long as the Fed Chief is right, ant the situtation does not get materially worse).

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