"An Encouraging Sign" that the Job Market May Be ... "Improving" ??

 

CNBC:

Fewer people sought unemployment benefits last week, an encouraging sign the job market may be slowly improving. 

The Labor Department says that weekly applications dropped 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 405,000, the lowest level in almost three months.

The government says the total was increased by 11,500 state workers from Minnesota, who have filed applications because of that state's government shutdown.

... applications have now topped 400,000 for 14 weeks ....

 

Mark Caserta at the Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch reminds us that

... the Bush administration was forced to defend a 5 percent unemployment rate during his presidency.

On Oct. 8, 2004, CBS' Dan Rather led off his broadcast by indicting President Bush's policies on national television by asking the American people,

"Tonight, where are the jobs?"

 

Dan Gainor extends that quote in this study comparing the media coverage of economic conditions under Bush with that under Clinton:

One Economy, Two Spins:

....The October 8, 2004 jobs report was a prime example of how the media slanted the employment picture. The Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicated that the economy added 96,000 new jobs in September – the 13th straight month of positive job growth.

The report also included a revision to earlier numbers that added 236,000 jobs to the totals earlier in the year.

 

None of the TV news media in our study even mentioned anything about the quarter-million new jobs and all four TV newscasts portrayed the report as a strong negative for President Bush. While the print media we examined did mention the revision, they buried it. The New York Times placed the news in the 12th paragraph of its unemployment story and the Post buried it even deeper -  the 18th paragraph.

CBS Evening News was the most slanted of all the media in our study and their approach to the October 2004 job numbers typified their bias. In all, CBS reported seven employment stories during the Bush portion of our study. Every single one was negative. They aired six such stories during the Clinton period of our study. Every one of those was positive.

Anchor Dan Rather started off his October 8, 2004 broadcast on a dubious note,

“Tonight, where are the jobs?”

He then drove home the political implications:

“A disappointing report on the economy

... just weeks before the election.”