Fudging

Numbers don’t lie, but they don’t always tell the truth either. Statistics can be fudged, twisted, manipulated . . . choose whatever verb you like. Our economic depression exposed how widespread this practice is among the banking community. But as effective as bankers are at this sleight of hand, there is one group whose skill at this surpasses all: the government. The latest example of this can be found in the Labor Department’s January Unemployment Report, which alleges that the country’s jobless rate fell from 10.0% to 9.7%.

On Thursday, Feb 4 the Associated Press reported, "The number of newly laid-off workers filing initial claims for jobless benefits rose unexpectedly last week, evidence that layoffs are continuing and jobs remain scarce." The AP also pointed out that it was the fourth rise in the pas t five weeks. Yet, miraculously, just one day later (Feb 5) the Labor Department announced that the national unemployment rate in January dipped 3/10 of a percentage point from 10% to 9.7%.

Huh?

Don’t believe the Labor Board’s figures? You are not alone. Investors didn’t buy it either, which is part of the reason why even after yesterday’s positive labor news the Dow Jones still needed to scratch and claw its way at day’s end to return to the 10,000 mark.

The moral of the story?

1 + 1 always equals 2, except when the person doing the adding is a government bean counter . . . or a banker.

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