The Labor Department explains itself
WASHINGTON — The unemployment figures announced Friday — a jump from 5 to 5.5 percent, the worst single-month increase in 20 years — were awful.
The Labor Department’s reaction wasn’t much better, at least on the face of it.
Here is the entire press release put out by the department:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao issued the following statement on the May employment situation report released today:
“Today’s increase in the unemployment rate reflects the fact that unusually large numbers of students and graduates are entering the labor market.”
That was not only brief to the extreme, it seemed highly dubious and raised more questions than it answered. Why would this year show a big increase in young people entering the job market? And what were the figures?
Repeated phone calls to the Labor Department produced no explanation. Finally, around 5 p.m., discussions with a department spokesman and with someone from the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics produced some information.
There was, indeed, an unusual number of people aged 16 to 24 who entered the job market in May, 442,000, far larger than previous years. Why that occurred is unclear, but it happened, and it helped account for the increase in unemployment.
An unsolicited bid of advice was given to the department’s folks, who had cheerfully stayed past 5 p.m. to come up with figures and discuss the issue. Given the significance of the news, and the current political season, a better statement by Chao would have added something like this. “The number of 442,000 young people who entered the job market last year is far higher than in previous years. Why this occurred is unclear.”
There was no argument.
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And of course, it is clear thqat the Bush/McCain/GOP economy is shrinking along with the job prospects of all Americans.