| Topic Name: |
When side-jobs hurt your chances.. |
| Message Name: |
Response |
| Date Posted: |
08/23/2004 |
| In Reply To: |
Hi John,
Thank you for your note. As a matter of proper
English, the title of your e-mail should have
been "Your 'article' about unemployment" not
"You're...."
Your e-mail is not clear, but neither is BLS. I'm
going to assume that you are basing your idea on
an already flawed data source -- which is in fact
the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Such an argument stretches across many government
agencies as a way to hide true data which in turn
paints a brighter picture (especially during an
election year) of economic stability; employment;
and successes in Iraq / Afghanistan.
First, for the headline of "US unemployment tops EU,"
per the 2003 data gathered by multiple sources outside
of BLS, the rate is 9.7 percent, while the EU's is 8.8
percent for the same time period. The headline holds
true based upon that statistic.
Second, the article simplies the point of how
professionals fall off BLS. As an example, when my
benefits end on 26 September I'm no longer counted.
There is no way for BLS to count me, I simply no
longer exist... which is why the unemployment rate
falls when a block of people "fall off" each month.
You are free to believe what you wish of course.
I won't address the snide remark about "not finding
a job," it is not relevant, nor is it professional on
your part. So... if you are hiring I'm not interested
in working for or with you. Thanks though.
Cheers,
Jeffrey Allen Miller
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| Message: |
The headline, much like the rest of the "article" is false. The only source you give is an LA Times article which you don??t properly cite or post. The fact that you think the BLS is magically ??hiding the truth?? at this point in time as opposed to the last 60 years is laughable at best.
The article doesn??t ??simplies?? (sic) the point at all. What it does do is lie about the way that data is collected by the BLS. If you had bothered to read the links that I posted you would see (as I said in my original email) that your benefits have nothing to do with the unemployment rate. The way that the BLS calculates unemployment is by a household survey of 60,000 people each month. If you know even basic statictics you would realize that this high of a sample size is extremely accurate. Just as a point of refrence the major polling firms use around 1,000 for their option polls.
The fact that you now know this and still keep your ??article?? on your website shows how much journalist intgratiy you have.
Cheers,
John
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