Media Spin- Insured UE claims up 0.1, non-Ins flat - and media notes drop

Sometimes I wonder if our financial media every reads a source document. The prior weeks UE claims are revised upward so as to have a larger "drop" - and the media says nothing.

And the rate of claims moves UP - 0.1% - in contradiction to the concept of a drop - and the media says nothing. At what point does someone in the media dive deep into Bush's new and improved seasonal claims adjustment procedure? And when will the media note the adjustment made last Spring that is being bleed into the numbers week after week this year, rather than having us shocked by a one week change in the numbers last Spring that might have affected Bush's polls?

Not that we have a right wing GOP controlled media - they just act like they are.

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/eta2003736.htm

November 20, 2003 DOL Home > Newsroom > News Releases
EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ADMINISTRATION USDL 03-736-NAT


Program Contact: TRANSMISSION OF MATERIAL IN THIS
Thomas Stengle (202) 693-2991 RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL
Media Contact : 8:30 A.M. (EST), THURSDAY
(202) 693-4676 November 20, 2003

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS REPORTSEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATAIn the week ending Nov. 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 355,000, a decrease of 15,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 370,000. The 4-week moving average was 367,250, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's revised average of 376,250. The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.8 percent for the week ending Nov. 8, an increase of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's revised rate of 2.7 percent.The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending Nov. 8 was 3,497,000, an increase of 21,000 from the preceding week's revised level of 3,476,000. <snip>

The advance unadjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.4 percent during the week ending Nov. 8, unchanged from the prior week. The advance unadjusted number for persons claiming UI benefits in state programs totaled 3,011,283, a decrease of 9,612 from the preceding week. A year earlier, the rate was 2.4 percent and the volume was 3,100,218.<snip>

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sarcasm off