"Strong job growth at last? Maybe
Economists expect a big jump in payrolls but unusual factors could cloud the picture."
http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/05/news/economy/job_walkup/index.htm?cnn=yesWell, the first "unusual factor" appears when you read the first two paragraphs of this article:
"Friday could be the day economists, politicians and the unemployed get the good news about the job market they've long been awaiting -- although the numbers may not be entirely trustworthy.
The Labor Department is scheduled to report on January's unemployment rate and job growth Friday morning, and the consensus view of economists is the report will be one of the best in years."
...and then look halfway down the page for the URL for another article released on CNN today, "Jobless claims surge
New weekly claims for unemployment benefits jumped past Wall Street estimates last week."
http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/05/news/economy/jobless/index.htmThe first article ends with a mind-numbing prediction you have seen quoted in these threads before:
"John Challenger, CEO of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, has been predicting the next job "boom" won't come until 2008."
If you haven't already, get prepared for spin in Biblical proportions when the report is released tomorrow. It will be offered as proof that the Bush tax cuts worked, and a strong admonition against "changing horses in mid-stream"...REGARDLESS of the truth behind the numbers and the jobs that continue to bleed out of the middle class work force like a stuck pig.