Article 6 Review

It is interesting to read about contemporary issues having studied the necessary content to understand them in more depth. This article by David Stockman is focusing on the BLS is overestimating the seasonal adjustment for jobs in December, making the economy look like it is in far better shape than it really is. Stockman exposes the truth behind the headline that hundreds of thousands of jobs were added to the U.S. economy in December, saying that the BLS added large numbers to the figure for “seasonal adjustment” that’s highly unreliable. Quarterly figures for GDP are also seasonally adjusted, but we learn the specifics of how that is done in the article. . Stockman, once again using his sarcastic tone, he ridicules BLS for overstating the number. In order to obtain the seasonal adjustment they usually get, Stockman calls BLS out for creating too many jobs. As this past December is much warmer than those from before, the seasonal adjustment should not have been changed as much as it did.It relates to what we’re studying because quarterly figures for GDP are also seasonally adjusted, but we learn the specifics of how that is done in the article.It is interesting to read about contemporary issues having studied the necessary content. I found the article very informative, however I believe much of what he writes is biased at least slightly.

article 7 reviewn

The article talked about how the Bureau of Labor Statistics is able to alter statistics and give the public biased data. The article says that  the unemployment rate appears to be 5.5 percent, which looks good because so many people have left the labor force. But the information was said to be misguided. According to the article, last year’s average unemployment rate should have been 11.4 percent instead of 6.2 percent. The reason for the shrinkage in the labor force is that baby boomers are retiring. However, there are is a large group of men between the ages of 25 or 54 who are no longer in the labor force even though they have finished school and have not yet retired. To solve the issue, the government has provided more food stamps, health care, and disability benefits, which has decreased the incentive for people to find jobs. The solution is to move the provision of welfare benefits back to the states, who can better evaluate which residents need help. Whenever possible, regulations should be left to the states so that these rules can be better streamlined and adapted to geographic and demographic circumstances