As soon as ex-General Electric CEO Jack Welch fired off a tweet questioning today's just released "unbelievable jobs numbers," the media went into a frenzy talking about how "conservatives" were launching conspiracy theories. Well, that's handy for the media and the Obama campaign, but it's not just "conservatives" who are confused by a full 0.3% drop in unemployment when only 114k jobs were created.
CNBC is as confused as the rest of us:
Job growth remained tame in September, with the economy creating just 114,000 net new positions though the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent, the first time it has been below 8 percent in 43 months.
The report presented a slew of contradictory data points, with the total employment level soaring despite the low net number.
The falling jobless rate had been a function as much of the continued shrinking in the labor force as it was an increase in new positions.
On the air, CNBC seemed equally perplexed by the biggest one-time drop in the unemployment rate in 29 years!
ABC News' Chris Cuomo is also skeptical of the numbers:
--
--
That "not fixed" tag smells a little like sarcasm to me.
Adding to the mystery is the fact that the U-6, the longtime underemployment and unemployment number, remained fixed at a dismal 14.7%.
