Compare the Headlines
AP (via Yahoo) uses the headline Companies Add Jobs, but Unemployment Up to describe the most recent employment figures. It sure looks like the employment picture is bleak. But wait...Reuters describes the same story this way US March Job Growth Surprises with Strength. The first line in the Reuters story reads, "U.S. employment rose last month at the fastest pace in nearly four years as hiring increased across a wide array of industries." Maybe it's not such bad news. In actuality, non-farm payrolls rose by 308,000 jobs in March. Expected growth was a little over 100,000 so 200% over expectations is a big story. Now the unemployment rate is up slightly from 5.6 to 5.7 percent and is separate from the payroll figure. AP apparently thinks one should cancel out the other.
- posted by Base10 @ 10:06 AM