Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Summers On The Winter Of Our Discontent (UPDATED)

Uh oh:

(Via Drudge) "White House economic adviser Larry Summers said on Monday winter blizzards were likely to distort U.S. February jobless figures, which are due to be released on Friday.

"The blizzards that affected much of the country during the last month are likely to distort the statistics. So it's going to be very important ... to look past whatever the next figures are to gauge the underlying trends," Summers said in an interview with CNBC, according to a transcript.

Construction activity was hit particularly hard by the storms, but many restaurants and stores also had to close, putting the brakes on hiring plans and temporarily throwing some employees out of work."

Maybe one day the administration will realize that it's their economic policies - not George Bush, not the weather - that has been hurting the economy and will not allow healing.  But I'm not holding my breath.

UPDATE: Don Surber's on the case (and he leaves a mark):

"Wrong. Unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted.  Second, that is not what the historical record says.  For example, terribly bad blizzards in January 1978 led to no change in unemployment. It was 6.4% in December 1977 and 6.4% in January 1978, falling to 6.3% in February 1978.  So basically what we have is an administration trying show to the public something — anything — good that might have come from that $787 billion the administration just squandered. Obama promised we would not get 9% unemployment if we trusted him with this much money.  We got 10% instead.

And a bunch of pathetic little excuses that a dumbass like me can see through."

Ouch.

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