I'm so tired of hearing this line: "Jobs are a lagging indicator"

[bluestateguy]

How often do I have to listen to this line? The people making this argument are either very gullible and stupid or job creation is really not much of a priority to them. These people seem to view economic recovery as meaning rising stock markets, higher GDP and more corporate profits. If no jobs are created in the process, they could really give a damn. How much longer is the lagging going to last? If we are to believe the apologists for this administration, the recession ended in early 2002, so it's been two years now. That doesn't sound like a lag, it sounds more like a disappearing act.

[Beetwasher]

1. If That's True Ask Them If They Bought Bush's Bullshit

That over 2 million jobs should have been created by now...If it's a lagging indicator, then why did Bush project all those jobs?

[Skidmore]

2. As long as *'s poll numbers are lagging.

They will use this in tandom with their saw about how isolationists are trying to damage our markets and down is up and up is down and so on and so on.

[JHB]

3. You got it in One!

job creation is really not much of a priority to them. These people seem to view economic recovery as meaning rising stock markets, higher GDP and more corporate profits. If no jobs are created in the process, they could really give a damn.

[underpants]

6. Hold it-I thought "the Stockmarket is NOT the economy"

Didn't we hear that over and over in the 90's?

You are right this part of their GO TO WORK AND BE THANKFUL TO YOUR BOSS THAT YOU HAVE A JOB line of speech. That covers all kinds of things from lawsuits to workplace safety.

[Skidmore]

10. It is to the "Investing Class" and that ain't the

middle class or the poor either. It is a giant crap shoot for high stake rollers.

[Bluzmann57]

4. Well as one who has been unemployed...

I'd rather have a job than not. It is not only economically inconvenient, it is also somewhat demeaning to be unemployed imo. So the recovery ain't happening if there's no jobs.

[livetohike]

13. Same here

I've always considered myself pretty flexible having moved around the US quite a bit with husband's job hopping and being able to find some professional level employment. I've been unemployed for over three years now. Job searching isn't easy even here in S. California.

[underpants]

5. I just love the "It's not the deficit it's the % of defict to GDP" line

They are getting away from their KISS method of bumpersticker politics, it happens to incumbents all the time-trying to explain what is going on. If they think that people will either believe what they say at this point or invest the time to understand their longwinded explanation they are fooling themselves.

[loftycity]

7. I just returned from Office Depot and 2 people in their 50's looking

for jobs. It was so,so sad. One them said "When I go to the bank--they just give me this look." So upsetting, you know these 2 people have never had to do this before and they were so scared. Another said "it's all part-time and what I'm I going to do?" "I cannot get by on that and the no benefits."
Really bad..

[BabsSong]

8. Why don't they just say what they mean

"This recovery is not for you"; or "Who said this is your recovery, Stupid; it's the Kenny Lay classes' recovery". Well, let's see how long the 'recover' when 2/3 of our economy is consumer spending. You can't smoke 'em if you ain't got 'em.

[Touchdown]

9. Even that they dispute. I'm talking with the man on the moon who says...

that the 2.5 million jobs lost just aren't true, and that under Chimpy, no jobs have been lost. Apparently they founnd some screed on Newsmax who jumped through enough hoops to spin his way out of the Bush Cabal's fudging of the unemployment numbers, to make like it's less than Clinton's.:crazy:

You can't draw blood from a turnip.:eyes:

[blueknight]

11. bullcrap!

i live in ky. and the only jobs around here are at wendy's and mickey d'S. of course, this administration wants to make these "manufacturing jobs"

[Touchdown]

17. They're in full blaming the victim mode...

Wanna hear it? I'll cut and paste this "proud American"...

"If you are talking about Bubba ... then I'll be happy to criticize. I sat in a meeting when Bubba's blowhards tried to take credit for McDonald's 'creating' 675,000 jobs. Problem is ... McDonald's didn't create any ... that number corresponded to the annual turnover ... Bubba and his 'truth squad' were spinning/lying.

I do not see the "fudge" you speak of. I do, however, see that you are reading from the Demo party playbook. <snip>

I wrote..."Forgetting those who just gave up looking for work."
He wrote..."And if there are no jobs in their "field" ... then they should change fields. This is a cop-out for the 'I am a victim' crowd ... the very crowd the Demo's pander to. "

I wrote:..."even though evverybody knows that Bush has had a net loss of jobs that number in the 2 millions?"
He replied..."That statement makes me a NOBODY ... I know of no such numbers. "
to which I wrote..."So living with a job that your overqualified for, and underpaid in, even though it may be part time, or temp when mortgages have to be paid, and children have to be taken care of...that's just the "I'm a victim crowd"?
And he wrote back with the good old reliable YOU'RE A COMMIE! remark..."but you seem to think that we are living in a US version of the FAILED Soviet system. There are NO GUARENTEES. " <snip>

I finally had to give up since a republican moderator let him have the last word and demanded we get back on topic.:eyes:

Edited to make his words bold.

[Jacobin]

12. Gives a whole new meaning to the word "lagging", no?

[GainesT1958]

14. Well, over 8 million "officially" unemployed...

Sounds like one HELLUVA lot of "lagging" to me!:mad:

If it didn't concern Dub & Co., why would they look to count "McJobs" as "manufacturing" jobs? That's about as plastic as your typical "Happy Meal" toy! :grr:

B-)

[damnraddem]

15. Jobs are a lagging indicator only of ...

the wrong turn we took on globalization years ago. Unfettered industry ability to 'increase productivity' without worker/union input, free flow of commodoties and their production with no safeguards for workers or for the environment, freedom of companies to make use of communities and then to abandon them, in some cases even free use of incentives for companies who take them and then abandon the communities or states that provided them -- all have made for 'lagging jobs.'

[tom_paine]

16. Sure, the Soviets used that one all the time defending their 5 year plans

Please.

"Lagging indicator" is one thing but these jobs are weeeeelllllllllll beyond "lagging".

they're just gone.

Which naturally, has nothing to do with Bushevik Pravda. I think they find it very unpleasant when they mistakenly tell the truth about something, like Bunnypants wishing he was a dictator.

Never the truth when a lie will do for the Imperial Family.

[LiberalEconomist]

18. Lagging indicator?

Bullshit!!! Employment is a coincident indicator. See the Conference Board for descriptions of leading, coincident and lagging indicators. Here is a webpage for methodology and definitions http://www.tcb-indicators.org

I hate pseudo-journalists who spout off this crap.

I hear this one too: "The economy has recovered, it's the jobs that have not kept up." Wha?? Folks, there ain't no economic recovery unless there is improvement in the labor market.

Then there is the bullshit "jobless recovery." Look, there are two economies to consider: the economy of the wealthy, and the economy for the rest of us. The economy of the wealthy has recovered, the rest of us are still in a friggin' recession.

[RichardRay]

20. Direct link to the definitions....

I had to thrash around a little bit to find the definitions, here's a link directly to the page....

Definitions

[ParanoidPat]

19. Hit them with, "Have you seen the Producer Price Index?"......

.....NO ONE HAS! Well at least for the last 2 months. Suddenly the Labor Department's computers and software are no longer up to the task of calculating it. Computers can't handle 'fuzzy math'. The month before that the last numbers released were artificially low due to a new 'tweak' applied that averages out the high prices already paid for energy last year into the coming summer months where it now looks like the prices will be even higher. How that change will be affected by the rapidly rising energy costs that threaten to overshadow the averaging effect remains to be seen. Without that vital leading indicator, 'all bets are off'!

Other downstream indicators point to around 36-40% inflation right now. :(