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"The Job Numbers Literally Do Not Add Up"

Tyler Durden's picture




 

By Jeff Snider of Alhambra Investment Partners

Payroll Stats Become Even More Implausible

Since Q1 GDP was revised lower by almost 1% that meant estimates of productivity were going to be even more out of alignment than they were at the first release. Of course, in a less massaged environment productivity might have preserved some sense if there was less rigidity from the BLS on the employment side. In other words, when “output” estimates were reduced (and they were, by more than GDP) it would make sense that everything would be revised downward in a more cohesive process. Instead, output was reduced significantly, by 1.4%, while total hours worked was marked down by all of 0.1%.

As a result, productivity is revised from a nonsensical -1.9% to an even more skeptical -3.1%.

 

If this was just a one-quarter problem, then it would be easy to dismiss as random variation or expected variance in all these statistics trying to tie together across real economy lags and such. But that is not the case, as productivity, and by extension the estimates for how “expensive” marginal labor is and thus the primary reason businesses hire and fire in the first place, has been seriously “off” for some time. With these latest estimates and revisions, productivity is now -0.7% over the last 5 quarters dating back to last year’s polar vortex. That just doesn’t make any sense in a meaningful context of business operations in the real economy – especially when the BLS is saying that this has been the best run of hiring in decades.

The productivity figures alone show us how the BLS is likely overstating labor gains. Simply substitute a more meaningful level of productivity, such as the average gain during the less robust hiring period of 2003-07, and, by the rigid method of calculation here, total hours gained almost disappear entirely.

The last time the Establishment Survey was as robust as the past year or so was 1999; then, the average productivity was 3.7%! That number actually makes sense intuitively, since businesses would have good reason to go on a hiring spree. Porting that to the current period, as in the mathematical construction of productivity here, would mean, holding output constant, that total hours in the past five quarters would have been not +2.7% but -1.7%. These numbers literally do not add up.

The deeper you go into the maze of calculations, the more that sentiment grows, not dissipates. The “next step” is to take productivity and turn it into what is called Unit Labor Costs. This is one estimate for how much it “costs” businesses to employ labor, not just in terms of compensation but in terms of what comes out of the capital transformation of that labor input. Where productivity is low or especially negative, unit labor costs are exceedingly high because you pay workers and (assumed) more workers and get less out of them per unit. That is why it makes no intuitive sense for businesses to be hiring rapidly during periods of high unit labor costs, even where revenue growth is robust.

In the past two quarters alone, because the BLS will not budge on their employment estimates, we are supposed to believe that businesses in the US have been falling over themselves to hire when doing so is historically very expensive. With the Q1 revisions to “output” moving downward significantly, unit labor costs in Q1 were revised up from 5% to 6.7%! That makes for two consecutive quarters of about 6%, which is usually what ignites, historically, recessions.

Unit labor costs surge prior to each and every recession, which, again, makes sense, but the problem with this historical comparison is that the calculations more recently no longer conform to any truly identifiable pattern. What used to be fairly stable and at least consistent has turned into a muddle of numbers all over the place.

That process appears to have started at the outset of the dot-com recession, gained into the Great Recession and has never abated apart from the typical negative labor costs only in 2009 and Q1 2010 (what recoveries are actually made of; negative and low labor costs at the margins show businesses to hire more and start the recovery process, not in the opposite manner as the BLS has it now). This obvious lack of consistency more than suggests problems in the various statistical pieces flowing into the calculations here.

We are left with two primary interpretations in terms of the macro view (and a slew of mathematical and statistical quiddities that I won’t get into here); either these numbers are correct and US businesses have suddenly lost all ability to profitably to project and conduct business or the BLS is being stubborn in over-estimating labor utilization across-the-board. The third possibility, that output itself should be revised much, much higher I simply reject out of sheer overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The first explanation, dumb businesses, seems almost exhaustively implausible except for the interference of QE and economists’ ridiculous projections. It is possible, how likely is debatable, that businesses have simply rejected what they see of the current environment and ramped up hiring in anticipation of what every single economist the world over told them to. I have said before that I think that is a very real problem and is likely causing economic imbalances in certain places (inventory comes to mind) but I don’t believe that would be sufficient in such a broad labor scope.

No, I think all the evidence continues to point to trend-cycle over-estimation and the BLS refusing to bend toward what is becoming irrefutable reality. There is absolutely nothing to suggest this is the best employment environment in decades, and the fact that the payroll numbers keep making that comparison only has one effect – to so skew “downstream” statistics as to preclude any other interpretation. With Payroll Friday upon us yet again, it is useful to keep this in mind that those payroll estimates not for actual job counts but of chained variations are completely bogus.

 

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Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:37 | 6166806 Normalcy Bias
Normalcy Bias's picture

You DON'T say?!?!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:39 | 6166813 SethDealer
SethDealer's picture

The numbers never work, this is america

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:50 | 6166850 Rainman
Rainman's picture

right you are, fuk the numbers .... I'm going all in on viagra for chicks.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:54 | 6166861 remain calm
remain calm's picture

You mean the numbers are made up. I am shocked 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKuBvplbVt0

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:54 | 6166869 PAPA ROACH
PAPA ROACH's picture

Fake it until you make it....

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:59 | 6166885 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

Won't be long before the BLS resorts to the Chewbacca Defense.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:06 | 6166909 Keyser
Keyser's picture

"There are lies, damned lies and statistics" - Mark Twain

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:14 | 6166940 imapopulistnow
imapopulistnow's picture

Employers have run out of employable candidates. They are holding on to workers while final demand is falling/stagnating. If this theory is correct, corporate profits should begin to show strains.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:33 | 6166993 Shocker
Shocker's picture

Nothing says Recovery like Job Cuts

Job Cut List: http://www.dailyjobcuts.com

-

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:18 | 6167155 Manthong
Manthong's picture

If the numbers added up for Madoff Investment Securities LLC, they should add up for the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:21 | 6167170 Allen_H
Allen_H's picture

If you are a blind, black, wheelchair bound raging fag you sure to get a top position.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:50 | 6167258 MonetaryApostate
MonetaryApostate's picture

Lol @ Allen_H

Yeah, it's all about riding the system, which is failing btw...

Trickledown Economics / Drying Up Liquidity & the wealthy pulling their money off the table, so we will be just like in the 1930s, jobless & hopeless...

I sure hope people have a plan B, for real...

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:56 | 6167281 Four chan
Four chan's picture

utilities paying 4% are getting murdered over the last month. this could be the canary in the coal mine. 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 15:08 | 6167490 BoredRoom
BoredRoom's picture

Obamath.....think of it as Ebonics for math, courtesy of his Chosenite media enablers

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 15:35 | 6167560 TruthInSunshine
TruthInSunshine's picture

Zero Hedge & the Durdens (and Alhambra Partners) STILL don't get it after 6 long years...

...the actual reality doesn't matter...not in a globally coordinated scam run by the central banks.

WAKE THE FUCK UP, TYLERS!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:01 | 6167662 MFL8240
MFL8240's picture

Whay limit this discussion to jobs number, how about nothing adds up?

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:07 | 6167677 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture
The $265 Billion Wave That's About to Crush Homeowners

 

Millions of consumers will have to absorb a major hit to their household budget in the coming months. About $265 billion in home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) will enter the repayment period in the next few years, according to a study from Experian, and consumers may see their monthly payments spike — in some cases, triple or quadruple what they previously paid.

 

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/265-billion-wave-thats-crush-130038955.html

 

" There's never been a better time then now to be Bullish! "

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 00:22 | 6168643 cookie nookie
cookie nookie's picture

You know who hates good employment numbers?  Wall Street.  Maybe the Fed will finally raise rates. 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:35 | 6166997 mtl4
mtl4's picture

True but the real issue is that people aren't looking at the global picture and instead only focus domestically.  The Fed needs to have the ability to raise rates in October or they run the risk of a runaway freight train market but money should flood the stock market after that and people will likely be buying stock with total disregard for the fundamentals (ie does the darn thing even make money or not?!)

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:23 | 6167179 LooseLee
LooseLee's picture

Are you serious?

"people will likely be buying stock with total disregard for the fundamentals".

Sorry to awake you from your slumber but people have been buying stock with total disregard for the fundamentals for nearly 6 years now.

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:55 | 6167276 mtl4
mtl4's picture

Yes agreed, but if think it's rediculous now, just watch what happens when Europe tries to throw on the capital controls.

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 03:32 | 6168744 Ham-bone
Ham-bone's picture

Today’s “strong” jobs report put in perspective…all data via Fed’s FRED. Data shows clearly there is no recovery nor jobs strength (nice to compare present w/ previous periods in the link).

http://econimica.blogspot.com/2015/06/jobs-day-ponderingperspectives-on.html

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:35 | 6167220 FreeMoney
FreeMoney's picture

Not lies my friend...."Seasonal Adjustments"

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 05:47 | 6168814 StychoKiller
StychoKiller's picture

Meh, so now lying season is year-round!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:09 | 6166921 TheCanadianAustrian
TheCanadianAustrian's picture

Look at the other post with the monthly jobs chart going back 10 years. Look at the stark contrast between 2005-2010 and 2010-2015. Which one looks like an honest attempt to capture the data?

Which one looks like someone closed the doors and said "Okay, what we're gonna do is alternate between awesome and terrible jobs reports randomly. The bad reports will convince people to keep holding our bonds, while the great reports will convince people to buy stocks and dollars!"

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:10 | 6166922 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

How dare they use math and logic to dispute Oz the Great.......

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:22 | 6166954 Renewable Life
Renewable Life's picture

Tyler's, don't try to bring "logic, common sense, and math" into a conversation about Kenyesisn economics for Gods sake!!!

Anyone with an IQ over 120 and not a millennial, knows this shit is completely made up, fantasy, non sense!!!

OF COURSE, the God damn numbers don't add up, there not suppose to add up, if the this shit made sense and was real, we'd still be on the God damn gold standard, wouldn't we!

But instead, these crooks have convinced the masses, it's in THEIR fucking self-interest to devalue and destroy their savings and stored wealth on a daily basis, so it's easier for the idiots and con men of the world to "borrow" money for fake growth and economic output!!!

This shit has literally been tried ten thousand times over the course of human history and every fucking time it has failed, but THIS time it's different, because the "all mighty" Americans are at the helm!!!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:02 | 6167295 bbq on whitehou...
bbq on whitehouse lawn's picture

Whould you like a million dollars in credit, all you need do is put .005% down and buy my pen for 1.5million. See its wonderful you are now rich and this pen will add value over time.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:59 | 6166887 rccalhoun
rccalhoun's picture

please raise the fuckers 400bp today!!!!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:02 | 6167094 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

My personal wet dream is for Yellen to walk out and tell them she's kicking it up to 5% and the market should commit an act of self-fornication......

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 23:11 | 6168564 fascismlover
fascismlover's picture

The last time I heard a public official admitting that the numbers are not adding up was on Sept. 10th, 2001.  That was from a guy who collects nails and screws from his farm.  

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:45 | 6166828 BullyBearish
BullyBearish's picture

The numbers add up to what they're supposed to...cover for a rate increase not because they can, but because they HAVE to

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:49 | 6166848 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

When tht rate increase comes, and it MUST, we will hear the sound of thunder. 

Imagine the people in the know....knowing. THE date the plug will be pulled.

My own thunderous prognostication in this matter is August 15th. As loaded dates go, this is a loaded date this year.

Other kind of thunder... Cajon in case you missed it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xtJApsB4cA

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:52 | 6166858 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

I desperately want you to be right.  I have a sandwich bet with Doc about that and so far it's looking like I'm going to get my ass kicked.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:05 | 6166904 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

If they increase rates, they're fucked.  If they don't increase rates, they're fucked.  You're not out of the running yet simply becuase their uber-complex models don't include debt.  But, I'm not going to tell you that you're going to win either.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:13 | 6166933 KnuckleDragger-X
KnuckleDragger-X's picture

Pesky paradox, people keep looking at the real world which screws up the roulette wheel.....

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:11 | 6167322 Buckaroo Banzai
Buckaroo Banzai's picture

Um, they're not fucked, WE'RE fucked.

It's Zugzwang for the Fed, any move they make is a losing play. But raising rates is what they will do because only that way can they can lower them again in the future. Thus generating activity in order to create the appearance of "doing something", which is what justifies their existence in the first place.

The rate hike is a dead-nuts, lead-pipe-cinch, 100% bet the farm LOCK.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 21:36 | 6168413 TheFutureReset
TheFutureReset's picture

Their "data driven" mantra also opens the door for a scapegoat in the future. 'All the data said the economy was lifting off. It was (insert failed institution here) that is to blame!' 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:11 | 6166925 r101958
r101958's picture

Am I correct that the birth-death model added 213k jobs this month?

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:23 | 6167181 actionjacksonbrownie
actionjacksonbrownie's picture

Actually, it seems to have added 15 million full time jobs over the past 7 years.

 

 

                         BLS - it's the new math

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 18:16 | 6167976 Nobody For President
Nobody For President's picture

Kids, the Fed ain't gonna raise rates, even if they DO have to. They can't.They are gonna kick the can, extend and pretend, one month at a time to perpetuity.

Look how long Greece has gone on. The Fed is just getting started on the 'We're gonna raise rates real soon now' number.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:52 | 6166860 This is it
This is it's picture

P+H+O+N+Y = PHONY

 

What doesnt add up? Looks fine to me here.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:15 | 6166941 JRobby
JRobby's picture

Why would they? They are falsified.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:38 | 6167010 sbenard
sbenard's picture

Fudged figures created just for the consumption of the propaganda press!

(...and the sheep that follow them!)

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:47 | 6167041 MartyFlesh
MartyFlesh's picture

Figures Lie and Liars Figure LOL!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:52 | 6167266 Omen IV
Omen IV's picture

any day now there will be the equivalent of Edward Snowden from the BLS disclosing  the real number manipulation

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 21:38 | 6168417 TheFutureReset
TheFutureReset's picture

All this talk about data driving decisions is useless unless we know their internal data. Audit. 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:54 | 6167067 Hal n back
Hal n back's picture

if we are less productive-thats bad for the economy, but we are "making work" for people--we ar eapparently building inventories. That keeps peopl eemployed.

 

but since the numbers come directly from fantasyland, "what difference does anything make"?

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:25 | 6167187 mrdenis
mrdenis's picture

Somebody fudging the numbers ....? shockhing ,just shocking ! 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:15 | 6167318 The_Dude
The_Dude's picture

These numbers make perfect sense to me given what is happening in the labor force....

Take well seasoned, experienced Americans with significant productivity output.  Lay them off and replace with one low pay, indentured servant from your favorite 3rd world shithole.  Stock price booms when quarterly results show dropping labor costs.  American drops off to permanent unemployment and unemployment rate numbers look great (just don't look at participation rate.)  Hours worked goes up because boss can flog indentured servants without fear of them leaving and they need to work more hours to match the output of replaced American worker.  Aggregate productivity from low pay, indentured servant workforce continues to drop over longer timeframe until US achieves parity productivity output with comparable 3rd world shitholes.

The productivity drop is just a reflection of the labor quality that we now have in the workforce.

Ta-daaa.... America gets what it deserves!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:37 | 6166809 PartysOver
PartysOver's picture

Shocking!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:38 | 6166811 Government need...
Government needs you to pay taxes's picture

Time to name the 'BLS' more appropriately.  How bout L (for labor) BS?

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:06 | 6166913 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

There are lies, damned lies and then there is the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:40 | 6166814 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

The numbers need to be double-corrected, seasonally adjusted and combined with snake oil, antler scrotum and donkey piss.

 

That'll surely result in the correct number.

 

Oh yeah, don't forget to add some of bernanke's "Secret Sauce" to complete the formula.

 

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:05 | 6166908 chunga
chunga's picture

What isn't being reported, I'm sure, are the clever ways big companies are trying to make moar profit at the expense of the sheep. Mrs. Chunga informs me that her employer has come up with a new system for handling sick days. They are no longer called sick "days" but are now sick "points". The explanation she was given is not in writing and pretty vague but anybody calling in sick gets in trouble somehow.

This is on the heels of the new time-keeping policy, where everybody gets paid by the minute. There was a round off to the nearest quarter hour but the corporate geniuses figure employees were gipping them out of 7 minutes. If you clock 1 minute of OT a special form is required.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:09 | 6167683 847328_3527
847328_3527's picture

" Apply some ox scrotum oil and toad's semen and call me in the morning. "

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:40 | 6166816 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

All the believability of a Vietnam War-era battle damage assessment.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:42 | 6166817 rejected
rejected's picture

Mr. Snider is 100 proof with this post. Phoney money, phoney jobs, phoney stats, phoney people.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:47 | 6166840 NoDebt
NoDebt's picture

Agree completely.  I'm an economist by training (but I'm feeling much better now), so I get off on stuff like this more than most people, I guess.  I'm just glad that I'm seeing more articles taking PRODUCTIVITY into account.  It's the third leg of the stool, and one that ZH has largely ignored until recently.  I've been saying for MONTHS now, something's wrong because the productivity numbers have not been looking good.  And, here, finally it is.

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:44 | 6166826 fiftybagger
fiftybagger's picture

Bureau of Lying Statisticians

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:45 | 6166829 Arius.
Arius.'s picture

numbers do not add up ... so?  suck it up

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:46 | 6166834 the not so migh...
the not so mighty maximiza's picture

good article

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:46 | 6166836 IdiotsOutWalkin...
IdiotsOutWalkingAbout's picture

WARNING: Don't do the maths.

Therein lies madness.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:47 | 6166838 101 years and c...
101 years and counting's picture

fire workers that get 45 hours/week and get benefits and replace with 2 people that work 20 hours a week.  the full time worker milked the clock because he thought his job was safe.  silly rabbit.

see, thats a gain of 1 employee to do the same work. and now, company doesnt have to pay healthcare.  yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaw!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:50 | 6166853 Urban Redneck
Urban Redneck's picture

That only works for small companies as of Jan 1 (less than 50 FTEs).

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:47 | 6166839 I Write Code
I Write Code's picture

Numbers adding up would just be black and white privilege you raycis.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:48 | 6166844 Klemens
Klemens's picture
Hundreds of Miles of ‘Razor Wire’ On Convoy Trucks Moving Through Colorado

http://beforeitsnews.com/military/2015/06/hundreds-of-miles-of-razor-wir...

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:00 | 6166891 sleigher
sleigher's picture

Why am I starting to get the feeling that prepping for some collapse is a fools errand and all along I should have been figuring out how to get out of this country?

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:17 | 6166945 TheFourthStoog-ing
TheFourthStoog-ing's picture

Fooled again, eh? You're in good company here.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:04 | 6167300 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

Go to a mirror and it will see the fool...

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:49 | 6166845 BoPeople
BoPeople's picture

Productivity is not a closed system when the majority of productive labor is not counted at its full US value.

Productivity has been goosed for the last 20 years through labor arbitrage. The more value add we import the greater the productivity metric.

It has nothing to do with real US productivity.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:49 | 6166846 Eeyores Enigma
Eeyores Enigma's picture

 

It is all done so the fed can reload the spring and hike rates. They don't give a damn what the consequences are there is only one thing that matters rates must go up so they can go down again.

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:55 | 6166870 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

Yeah I'm thinking it is not a stretch for .gov numbers to be tweeked to allow Obama to take the hit as a lame duck and then the new Republican President can come in clean.

They need to make things happen now.

Experian, Charles Phelan, just released a report too:

"Millions of consumers will have to absorb a major hit to their household budget in the coming months. About $265 billion in home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) will enter the repayment period in the next few years, according to a study from Experian, and consumers may see their monthly payments spike — in some cases, triple or quadruple what they previously paid."

https://homes.yahoo.com/news/265-billion-wave-thats-crush-130038955.html

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:53 | 6166863 ajkreider
ajkreider's picture

Are imports counted against net? If so, that's part of the explanation. A trade deficit has nothing directly to do with either output or productivity (though it counts against GDP). So rising trade deficit will mess up the numbers.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:54 | 6166865 CHC
CHC's picture

If the #s don't add up today - they will by tomorrow. 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:54 | 6166868 Soul Glow
Soul Glow's picture

The US government/fascist banking system wants everything to look rosey when Greece defaults, or what have you, so when SHTF they can say, "But we had a recovery, this one isn't our fault."

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:56 | 6166874 RougeUnderwriter
RougeUnderwriter's picture

We bought these numbers from China - that is why they do not work

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:14 | 6166934 thinair
thinair's picture

very nice comment...  bought from china.. has the same quality!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:58 | 6166881 headhunt
headhunt's picture

The lies get larger as more leftists become entrenched in government, there is a corollary with this theorem;

The number of leftists in government is directly proportional to falsification of fact and loss of freedom.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:03 | 6166900 corporatewhore
corporatewhore's picture

there is no left or right dichotomy.  Just liars.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:52 | 6167060 IdiotsOutWalkin...
IdiotsOutWalkingAbout's picture

Quit playing in your own poo, you half-wit dumbass.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:46 | 6167416 headhunt
headhunt's picture

Yes you are a dumb ass idiot government employee

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:58 | 6166882 Debt-Is-Not-Money
Debt-Is-Not-Money's picture

You Lie!

- Cong. Joe Wilson

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 11:58 | 6166883 aliki
aliki's picture

im sure steve liesman is working right now on the U.S. debt/deficit; we actually don't have an $18 trillion debt according to his calculation, under obama, we have a $100 trillion surplus. his math works better, so we should use that.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:00 | 6166888 bankonzhongguo
bankonzhongguo's picture

These reports are only about justifying (by any means necessary and as thinly as possible) a media headline.

These stats are so underwhelming, uncompelling and patently gamed that the REAL story is how big media never challenges the government press release, either locally or otherwise.

Reading an analysis prepared by the Chinese government as reported in China Daily would be as equally convincing.

Regardless, do you know of ANYBODY that trades on this kind of information?

It is all noisy static in a foggy dark forest as heard by a lost child.

Amazingly in this age of Big Data, one would think the real time calculation of wages paid to active Social Security Numbers would both reveal how much of the economy is gamed by undocumented labor, but also eliminate or reduce all these spurious seasonal adjustments.

 

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:00 | 6166889 HenryHall
HenryHall's picture

It appeared that there had even been demonstrations to thank Big Brother for RAISING the chocolate ration to twenty grammes a week. And only yesterday, he reflected, it had been announced that the ration was to be REDUCED to twenty grammes a week. Was it possible that they could swallow that, after only twenty-four hours?

YES, they swallowed it.

 

-- George Orwell - "1984"

The world has gone mad, the populace is dimwitted.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:14 | 6166938 TheFourthStoog-ing
TheFourthStoog-ing's picture

It's all a big conspiracy, isn't it? :-)

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:36 | 6167006 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

- Got any facts that you don't like?

-

Series Id: LES1252881600,
Seasonally Adjusted, Constant (1982-84) dollar adjusted to CPI-U- Median usual weekly earnings, Employed full time, Wage and salary workers, All Industries, All Occupations, Both Sexes, All Races, 16 years and over,All educational levels, Wage and salary workers, Employed full time

Download:
Year Qtr1 Qtr2 Qtr3 Qtr4
1979 335 335 330 326
1980 321 315 319 315
1981 314 311 309 312
1984 313 312 313 316
1994 316 317 314 314
2000 334 334 335 334
2006 332 329 334 337
2007 336 335 336 332
2013 337 339 338 338
2014 341 337 341 340
2015 341

http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/international/intinv/iip_glance.htm (wow huge trend, $31 Trillion in Foreign Property in USA vs $24 Trillion)

Federal Debt Held by Foreign & International Investors as Percent of Gross Domestic Product, 2014:Q4: 34.75940 Percent of GDP,
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/HBFIGDQ188S

Current Account Balance: Total Trade of Goods for the United States©, 2013: -703,911,000,000 US Dollars,
Sum Over Component Sub-periods (2013 was last data),
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/BPBLTD01USA637S

https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/MZMV
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/M2V
https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/M1V

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:07 | 6167313 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

Your efforts are wasted on that guy.

He's just a troll. And quite primitive.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:01 | 6166896 Byte Me
Byte Me's picture

These numbers literally do not add up.

True. But various Tylers have indoctrinated us concerning the "New Normal".

How is this inconsistency incongruous with the 'FedShit' or 'BLShit' goalseeked claptrap ?

(You forgot to adjust for 'hedonics') Someone start burning banksters at the fucking stake already..)

Cc. NSAC (bc only alphabet soup control freakery counts towards true growth)

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:03 | 6166898 curbyourrisk
curbyourrisk's picture

GOAL SEEK THEORY......  

 

The numbers are what they are because that is what they are supposed to be...

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:12 | 6166928 TheFourthStoog-ing
TheFourthStoog-ing's picture

Zeroes see their sole investment - look, a shiny object! - dwindling in value and they cry foul.

Welcome to the Zero Hedge school of hard knocks, where all attendees get fleeced.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:27 | 6166978 Byte Me
Byte Me's picture

Go and mug yourself under your pseudobridge.

PS - Just DIE.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:51 | 6167056 Mike Honcho
Mike Honcho's picture

Step 1: Spot his username

Step 2: Downvote

Step 3: Don't read, just move along

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:04 | 6167101 Byte Me
Byte Me's picture

Step 3: Cognizance of imitated username.

Step 4: Verify username creation date.

Step 4A: Bitch that secondary downvotes are not permitted.

Iteration:

Step 1..

Step 2...

Move on.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:14 | 6167341 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

Amerikan Patriot, a.k.a. stopeuro, a.k.a. 5e0V2a3, a.k.a. asophocles, a.k.a. iofera, posting with his latest pre-shitcanned ZH account, said:

Zeroes see their sole investment - look, a shiny object! - dwindling in value and they cry foul.

Welcome to the Zero Hedge school of hard knocks, where all attendees get fleeced.

And you your ass for how much they sell in a gay club in the next street?

It is secondary. For people like you, the main thing freely in the ass to fuck. Anyway I can see you are a passive pederast and investments your husband does.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:17 | 6166946 BeerMe
BeerMe's picture

As a small business these numbers piss me off more and more.  We really can't hire because .gov's tax burden.  They'll have stolen a month's profit by the end of the year.  We really can't hire because our margins continue to get squeezed.  Business is relatively strong but continues to get eaten up by the parasites.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:33 | 6166991 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

In all Governance, Banking, Accounting, Financial instruments, Laws...

Simplify, Streamline, and Standardize.

If the Lawyers & Bankers aren't doing that they are Dangerous to Democracy.

Same for the FED. If it is not simplifying, then it is obfuscating, hiding it's works, and hurting businesses, and households.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:32 | 6167385 Berspankme
Berspankme's picture

Same here and I have tried to raise prices twice in the past 3 years only to see demand get monkey hammered. So I go back to old prices, discounts and incentives. I've given raises to employees out of my own pocket to keep them but I am running out of options. .Gov regs are strangling me, fed state and local. I am going to give it the rest of this year and then will just shut down or fire sell. All .gov numbers are fantasy crap.

Fuck You Bernanke

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:21 | 6166961 Hannibal
Hannibal's picture

Memo to the Fed: you are the enemy of capitalism, the middle class and the nation.

Greay article by:

http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2015/06/memo-to-fed-and-its-media-t...

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:24 | 6166963 Nue
Nue's picture

Most people think the FED is lying on purpose not really this is the problem of those who dwell in the Ivory Towers. Their only contact with the real world is data sent to them from peons below eventually after losing all contact with reality they believe that by changing the Data they can change the reality that creates the Data.  I.E  We could make world where no one drowns to death by defining Water as equal to Air. That way nobody drowns they just stop breathing for some unknown reason while under the swimming pool.  

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:30 | 6166986 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

Yeah we have all been corrupted on Purpose.

It is called Counter-Intelligence operations.

Just like ZH Article from George Washington on how most Science and Medical Studies are now bogus according to Editors of New England journal of Medicine and the Lancet.

http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140-6736%2815%2960696...

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2009/jan/15/drug-companies-doct...

Big money goes to Universities and they warp Economics, Government, .gov policy, foreign policy, American History, and world History.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:40 | 6167011 Bobbo
Bobbo's picture

No, I think the Fed is lying on purpose. 

That is what they were hired to do.  They spin up technical lies to cover the effects of doing what they are told to do (by you know who), just like "popular" politicians spin up bald faced lies to cover the effects of doing what they were told to do (by the same you know who). 

PsyOps writ large.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:24 | 6166969 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

Rand Paul Demanding release of Report which may show Saudi Arabia financed 9-11. Obama under pressure to Release.

- "According to Bob Graham, the former Florida senator who was chair of the Senate Intelligence committee at the time of the report, they show that Saudi Arabia was the “principle financier” of the attack."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/september-11-attacks/11653706/...

I still have to check all of this:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jun/03/wikileaks-documents-trade-i...

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:28 | 6166981 HenryHall
HenryHall's picture

“principle financier”?

“principal financier”?

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:46 | 6167039 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

Spelling? Written in UK.

- Why do we depend on Foreign Investment BTW? Like why do we have to borrow from Private Banks when the Treasury has the Right to Coin Money?
- Fiscal Summit this week shows the Former FED members will never consider we can give up paying Interest on Federal Debt.

Rest of the world; foreign direct investment in U.S.; asset, Level
2014:Q4: 3,298,931.7 Millions of Dollars (+ see more)
Quarterly, Not Seasonally Adjusted, ROWFDNQ027S,

Gross Private Domestic Investment
2014: 2,851.6 Billions of Dollars (+ see more)
Annual, Not Seasonally Adjusted, GPDIA,

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:57 | 6167076 HenryHall
HenryHall's picture

Both are correct spellings, but they have different meanings.

Principle - Rule, law, ethical code, belief, political aim.

Principal - Main, substantial, majority, overwhelming.

With these two words New and Old World usages are the same.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:07 | 6167107 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

I never noticed that. I have seen the different spellings for a number of words by English Writers; colour, behaviour, centre (maybe)

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:00 | 6167090 HenryHall
HenryHall's picture

>>> Why do we depend on Foreign Investment BTW? Like why do we have to borrow from Private Banks when the Treasury has the Right to Coin Money?

 

It's not that the owners of the Westernised countries (including USA) are necessarily un-American. It's just that they choose to keep some of their near infinite wealth and power in offshore corporations. It's called diversification of risk.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:09 | 6167115 TeethVillage88s
TeethVillage88s's picture

Hm that makes some sense and is new idea for me.

With multiple funding sources often the case individuals can come forward also.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:25 | 6166975 insanelysane
insanelysane's picture

The government and media always report the true numbers like in this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/04/us/baltimore-drugs-violence/index.html

"At least 27 pharmacies and drug clinics were looted during riots after the April death of Freddie Gray, much more than previously reported, and as much as 175,000 units of dosage narcotics are now on the street, he said."

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:38 | 6166992 combatsnoopy
combatsnoopy's picture

According to BLS, only 92.986 some million are out of the labor force, as opposed to the 93 milion for the last two months.  Here's what's going to happen out west (literally "hollywood accounting" at it's most needed).  They'll parade about "new jobs created"- hire someone on as a temp, tell the temp that the job lasts 2 months and kick them out after the 3rd day due "to a change in plans".  

The "change in plans" may be summed up in the fact that company owes lawyers $25,000-$40,000/MONTH for protection against investors who lost money with them, missing revolving lines of credit with a bank to finance growth - including employment, CPAs who finally figure out that the company is one of their clients, etc.  The boomers and the "business" crowd in socal are so far from legitimate, literate and professional that your eyes will bleed if you watched them conduct business.   
Well except for the lawyers. 

Anyone at PE should be hedging ANY and ALL incubated companies with debt from a Law/CPA firm.  Law/CPA firms are going to be the new currency since "House Rich" for condemnable properties and overvalued land mean little anymore. 

The other scenario- look at what happened to Queens in Riverside- they "hired" a bunch of people and the area is in need of jobs.   THEN!  "Politics"...some political group had a hissy fit about I don't know what this time (prolly a drop in gold prices due to higher demand since China apparently holds the most gold now?) 

Amazon is supposed to FINALLLY open up a fulfillment center inland Socal.  They were supposed to do this YEARS ago.
http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS15000000

That's on top of the almighty "small company" lack of need for employees + reduced wages, preference for only hispanics and blacks for quotas for tax breaks in affirmative action...and good ol' NEPOTISM!  Where Deloitte - the assholes who fuck up unemployment/disability payment to recipients which is now $8 billion in the hole- lays off experts for accounting of a particular race like Asian, in a different racist part of the country hire on preschool ed majors for management. 

Meanwhile, "innocently" NOBODY thought about why we were in "need" of inflation when there's no multiplier effect in the counterfeit subprime backed teaser rate funded real estate ponzi scheme.

The new collateral is going to be "house rich" - aka. depreciating illiquid asset that you don't need that dropped in value more than your kid's "overfunded education", some extortionary medical bills and a mack daddy 3 month trip to Europe.

THIS is the "Land of Opportunity"!  

 

Their f*d up stats don't mean anything.
Remember, the Obammy camp don't know how to count, add, classify, or wipe their own asses.

And Mr. "I funded the entire company" Musk and his $5 billion for egotrip in gubbermint subsidies like ALL of the other racist government run institutions are the "new trade theory" guinea pigs who FAILED to create jobs.  For people who qualify or need them (YES!  again there's a chock full of nepotism there, don't be surprised if NASA outperforms them.) 

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-07/news/chi-report-chicago-po...
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-lapd-data-20141216-story.html 

Unfortunately, we need much more of this (and it IS available) but we don't see or hear anything about it except for the Joop Bollen scandal... 
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-chinese-us-investment-20150520-sto...

But look!  A VC funder handed yet another high school drop out of white priveledge and nepotism some start up money for playing on Nook.  Greenshoots!  We're saved!  

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:35 | 6167001 Bobbo
Bobbo's picture

"Chained Variations"

You gotta love it somehow.  For an industry (government) based on telling lies, it is really entertaining when real trouble arrives:  The lies are so big and transparrent as to become actually entertaining.  That is, ... in a perverted sort of way.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:46 | 6167040 Mike Honcho
Mike Honcho's picture

A ball gag kinda guy, huh?

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:42 | 6167022 q99x2
q99x2's picture

They are planning to kill us. Somebody call the police. Obama's been spotted somewhere near the White House a Yellen and Clapperin while Holderin his Bernanke.

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 06:48 | 6168839 Farmer Joe in B...
Farmer Joe in Brooklyn's picture

I have a hard time clapping whilst holding my Bernanke.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:45 | 6167034 yogibear
yogibear's picture

The numbers are always changed so they do work.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:50 | 6167046 ironmace
ironmace's picture

Well, we knew it was going to be bullshit anyway.

chocolate rations are being reduced to 9 grams.

we have always been at war with Oceania.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 12:54 | 6167066 johnjkiii
johnjkiii's picture

Pretty simple really: The BLS counts every job as 1. They miscalcuate that 1 job = 40 hr. worked and apply the other formulae to that to get decreasing productivity and increased hours worked. Business may be paying attention to the Economists' nonsense, but the cost per part timer is much lower than a full timer. The inventory increases in a slack economy are to me, the key. We will slowly recede until something triggers a run on the Fed.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:07 | 6167105 fremannx
fremannx's picture

The financial media continues to feature stories with an upbeat outlook for the U.S. economy. The economy is on track for “the fastest growth in a decade” (Associated Press), and “Experts expect jobs aplenty in ’15? (USA Today). If that's the case, why are some 30 million people either out of work or severely underemployed?

http://www.globaldeflationnews.com/the-big-lie-about-the-u-s-jobs-pictur...

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:11 | 6167128 Jack Burton
Jack Burton's picture

I saw these banner headlines on CNN and spit out my breakfast toast and knocked over the coffee cup. My thoughts "You gotta be shiting me!"

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:33 | 6167214 TheMason
TheMason's picture

I have a question that I have never gotten a valid answer to.  Stories keep reporting that 92,986,000 people are "not in the workforce".  Is that the total number of unemployed or does that number include retirees and others who wouldn't be working anyway??  I try to argue the economy is not as good as it's made out and that the unemployment rate is no way 5.5% but I want to have my facts straight. 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:26 | 6167375 Kickaha
Kickaha's picture

Trying to figure out where any of these numbers come from is a fool's errand, but I am feeling more foolish than usual today.  

As to your question, it only makes this fool's errand more difficult, because you want an answer that assumes that retirees are no longer in the work force.  Retirees are actually the largest growing sector of the workforce.  They may be drawing a pension.  They may be drawing Social Security.  But a lot of them also need a job to avoid going bankrupt.

And a lot of people are drawing a Social Security Disability check, but working "under the table" so as not to jeopardize that government gravy train.

A lot of people are working for cash even if they are able-bodied.

If somebody's "job" involves selling drugs on the street, are they employed?  

A lot of people are self-employed, and these folks don't show up as W-2 employees.

A lot of commentators would ask you to consider the thought that all those folks employed part-time, but wanting full -time work that they have not been able to find for years, should be considered as maybe half-employed for purposes of compiling these sorts of statistics.

Personally, I seriously doubt that 92,986,000 people of working age in the USA sit at home all day and either watch TV or diddle themselves, or diddle themselves while watching TV.

So, in the absence of any agreed-upon definition of "workforce", and in the absence of any agreed-upon definition of "employment", it is really hard to say what percentage of the workforce is currently unemployed.

The only thing that is certain is that the true percentage is some multiple of what the BLS says it is, because their way of calculating the percentage is totally bat-shit crazy, unless it is viewed as the political speech it is, rather than as an employment statistic.

 

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 11:01 | 6169167 TheMason
TheMason's picture

That is exactly why I hate using that 92,000,000 figure.  While the unemployment rate is higher than what the Gov't tells us that number is also misleading.  Without some sort of true baseline figure we cannot start to address the prioblem.

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 04:23 | 6168775 CaptOveur
CaptOveur's picture

I think this spreadsheet would help you understand. It breaks down employment and working population by age, race, gender, and state. Unemployment counts people not working but looking for work. Generally civilian non-institutional population = employed + unemployed + not in workforce. I think they start counting population at 16 years old. A retired person would be part of the civilian non-institutional population but not in the workforce. The unemployment rate IS 5.5% but the employment population ratio is down 8% from 2000 due to people leaving the workforce. The numbers don't tell the whole story, either. A hunk of employment shifted from US born to immigrants, so amoung US born the numbers are actually worse.

Employment by state, age, race, and gender:
http://www.bls.gov/lau/table14full13.xlsx

Historical employment tables:
http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:44 | 6167237 Drain Bamage
Drain Bamage's picture

The manipulation of employment and inflation data is pretty clear. 

So why does the Fed want to raise rates? Shouldn't Yellon be looking for a reason to keep a lid on it? Or have all the banks positioned to the short side and stepped away from the table?

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:57 | 6167243 PhiBetaZappa
PhiBetaZappa's picture

Attention: Jeff Snider - no one is ever supposed to add up or attempt to add up the numbers, any government numbers. Are you daft man. I see multiple lifetime IRS audits in your immediate future and they will be the best thing coming your way from Uncle Sham.

Our system of government and crony capitalism depends on our BS numbers and the constant stream of lies defending them. Look at them if you must but only with your government issued rose colored glasses. Wake up man before it's too late.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:47 | 6167249 wstrub
wstrub's picture

EXACTLY!!!!!!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:50 | 6167259 Panic Mode
Panic Mode's picture

They mixed up the negative & positive sign by *accident*.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:11 | 6167334 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

These numbers could be a computer hacked China or Russian manipulated numbers. Even the NSA cannot stop these wiseful tricksters. 

Officials are declaring a false positive/negative alarm bells within firewall settings. 

/sarc

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 13:52 | 6167264 all-priced-in
all-priced-in's picture

How does creating more part time jobs impact these numbers?

 

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:03 | 6167296 Atomizer
Atomizer's picture

It reminds me of a faggot explaining how Jamie Dimon is a 1.1 billionaire. Some idiot on a recent interview couldn't present the mathematics. But the little limp wristed protested claimed his was worth 1.1 billion. The woman interviewing him wasn't buying his kneecap fluffing ordeal. 

Sorry, cannot recall the link. 

 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:09 | 6167321 kchrisc
kchrisc's picture

Winston Smith Numbers are always accurate.

Liberty is a demand. Tyranny is submission..

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:34 | 6167391 vegas
vegas's picture

Obviously, you aren't looking at "quadruple seasonal adjustments"; nothing must EVER make Emperor Goebbels look bad. Move along Sheeple.

www.traderzoo.mobi

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:55 | 6167456 Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights's picture

Ya but MDB said these were solid jobs and that ZH is wrong....

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 14:59 | 6167478 Bryan
Bryan's picture

"literally" literally, or "literally" figuratively?

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 15:16 | 6167521 PoliticalRefuge...
PoliticalRefugeefromCalif.'s picture

..the principle remains the same...

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 15:19 | 6167532 motorollin
motorollin's picture

Double secret seasonal adjustments.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 15:22 | 6167542 Atlas Crapped
Atlas Crapped's picture

Like everything else, the numbers are fabricated ... to create the expectation that the FED will raise rates. They won't. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me 24 times ... have a lemon party at the FED.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 15:27 | 6167556 f16hoser
f16hoser's picture

Fucking Kenyan Squatter Obama Doesn't Add-Up!

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 15:56 | 6167650 who cares
who cares's picture

The job number does not add up? So what did you expect: confirmation to all the other economic data that the USA is sliding back into recession? That was the last government data that would either confirm or put doubts on the coming recession. The government and the Fed (now all togheter) cannot provide a less than bullish data (the last) on the economy. Otherwise they would have to paddle back on all of their previous bullish rethoric. So they wil go ahead with the BS untill they will be forced  to admit the truth.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:50 | 6167785 Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch's picture

1 ft job = 2 pt jobs nets 1 job.

Common core jobs.

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 06:44 | 6168837 Farmer Joe in B...
Farmer Joe in Brooklyn's picture

What I don't get is why anyone would work a part-time job at all...?

With that job, depending on your household composition, you very likely disqualify yourself from Medicaid and reduce the benefits of SNAP and other assistance programs. 

The system is set up to where it is actually better to have no job at all. ESPECIALLY now that Healthcare costs are going through the roof...and these are often high-deductible plans.

I recently lost my job and we have a 4mo baby at home. My wife works 2-3 days a week and makes about $15k/year. Once my unemployment runs out in October, we will qualify for Medicaid (along with SNAP, TANF, and a few other programs).

We are finding it very hard to find any reason for me to go back to work or have her pick up more hours. Unless I find a really good job (not likely), we don't have any incentive to get off the .gov gravy train.

I'm sorry to all you taxpayers, but we may be here to stay...

Disclaimer (before you thrash me with downvotes): I am 37 and have been working officially for 21 years now and have paid around $1.5mln just in federal taxes over my lifetime. 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 16:52 | 6167787 Chuck Knoblauch
Chuck Knoblauch's picture

Obozo is a bullshit artist.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 18:03 | 6167954 matagorda
matagorda's picture

One explanation:  Health care costs rise on the existing employee base.  New employees don't have the same coverage.  Management probably plans to fire out of the existing (covered) base as the new part-timers are trained to take their positions.  Meanwhile, productivity takes a hit.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 19:14 | 6168093 luna_man
luna_man's picture

 

 

Hey, jeff, can I let you in on a little secret?...You're using the wrong kindda math...

 

it's called CRIMINAL math!!...try it and you'll come up with the same numbers 

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 19:38 | 6168148 Laddie
Laddie's picture

Well imagine the confusion amongst those of us who notice these sorts of things:

Maine City’s Police Turn to Somali Immigrants as Diversity Grows
Scott Malone, Reuters, June 5, 2015

From the Mogadishu market to the women in brightly colored veils walking their children to school, Maine's second-largest city shows the signs of the growing Somali-American community that is making its mark on the former New England mill town.

One place in Lewiston where that growing diversity is not evident is the city's 82-member police force, but Chief Michael Bussiere aims to change that amid an intense national debate over race and policing.

With about a quarter of his officers due to become eligible to retire in the next few years, Bussiere has begun reaching out to the region's 7,000-strong Somali population, including many who arrived in the United States as refugees from the East African country's long civil war.

"We have to think about who is living here now and who's going to live here 10 years from now. We need a department that is reflective of the demographics of the community it serves," Bussiere said during an interview at his office.

Rising: 25,098,000 Foreign-Born Workers Employed in U.S.A.
By Ali Meyer June 5, 2015 10:44 AM EDT

The number of foreign-born individuals holding jobs in the United States increased by 279,000 to 25,098,000 in May, according to data released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

In January 2009, when President Obama took office, there were 21,375,000 foreign-born workers employed in the United States. Since then, the number has increased by 3,723,000.

In its data on foreign-born workers, the BLS does not distinguish between legal immigrants to the United States, who are permitted to work here, and illegal aliens, who are not.

Fri, 06/05/2015 - 23:53 | 6168612 MagicMoney
MagicMoney's picture

Wow productivity is bad, but employment is up which means..... Lots of lazy workers being hired.... Or just low productive jobs like saying "Hello" as people pass through the doorway.

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 01:49 | 6168703 starman
starman's picture

of course they add up 29.5 hours per week. 

Sat, 06/06/2015 - 06:48 | 6168840 goldenbuddha454
goldenbuddha454's picture

The Soviets relied on disinformation.  The bigger the lie, the more it would be told in order to keep control.  So as the economy here continues to nose dive, you'll only see the lies become bigger and bolder and the accomplices in the msm continue to report the lies, uncontested, as news ie the unemployment rate at 5.5%.   If it was true and the economy was really that strong do you think half the US population would be on government assistance?

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