What official statistics are used when producing these "jobs gained" figures?
Asked by
augustlan (
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)
September 16th, 2012
My aunt wants to know what accounts for all the jobs Obama’s claiming were gained during his administration. For instance, she thinks that some of them are from the bank bailouts, and shouldn’t be counted (for whatever reason). I need official statistics that break down what kind of jobs they are, if such a thing exists.
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11 Answers
I would imagine these stats are what you seek.
It seems at a glance that Retail Trade is the big winner, far higher than those under Financial Activities. In other words, we have more new jobs at store and such than at banks.
However, experience shows that facts rarely matter to those who criticize Obama :/
Thanks for the link, @jerv, but it’s not showing me any actual numbers…
This is an interesting discussion on the subject.
My own take on it: Many fake jobs were created when employers hired people based on the money the government gave them for each new job, but as soon as the money stopped, the jobs vanished.
@augustlan You choose the categories to show numbers for, then hit the button at the bottom.
You can be sure that the BLS is not reporting fake jobs. The numbers reported need to be later reconciled with job numbers reported as part of the federal unemployment tax system. If as an employer you make up numbers, you are going to have to pay more SUTA and FUTA tax. You can bet your bottom dollar no employer is going to inflate its numbers and pay more in taxes just to make the BLS jobs numbers look better.
You can find a breakdown of all jobs created at the monthly Employment Situation report as well. I’ll have to figure out how this site adds links.
It makes no sense to not count jobs created by the bank bailout or the stimulus or any government spending for that matter. The person employed is collecting a pay check; he/she has a job.
@Middle_Molly Welcome to fluther, and thanks for your side of it.
Thanks, everyone. I think I was able to provide her some useful information from your suggestions.
The jobs created number is the result of a survey of about 160,000 businesses and government agencies, as with most government numbers. As such it is prone to manipulation and adjustment. A decent ball park but not especially accurate.
@Jaxk As an aside, what numbers aren’t prone to manipulation and adjustment? I mean, we’re talking statistics here…
@jerv
C’mon, we’re talking about surveys. Not real statistics.
@Jaxk Statistics based on surveys. Only slightly more credible than die-rolling.
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