Despite GOP and Fox News Claims to Contrary, 7.8% Unemployment is Real

First it was Fox News. Then it was former CEO of General Electric Jack Welch. Then it was former and current windbag Donald Trump. I was disappointed but hardly surprised when those conspiracy theorists and die hard Republican supporters accused the Obama Administration and Bureau of Labor Statistics of falsifying last Friday’s employment reports. Sometimes the truth hurts, even when the truth is that almost 900,000 more Americans are working now than a month ago and that fact should be celebrated. But I was surprised to see someone that I have a lot of respect for — former Chief Operating Officer of the Society for Human Resource Management China Gorman — join the naysayers. Say it ain’t so, China. Say it ain’t so.

Without producing a shred of any evidence — even questionable evidence — to the contrary, conspiracy theorists and GOP supporters across the conservative media outlets have slandered the ethics of the non-political appointee economists who compile and publish the monthly jobs reports for the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These conspiracy theorists were apparently disappointed to learn that almost 900,000 more Americans are working today than a month ago and that more Americans are now working than were when President Obama took office. That disappointment — thinly veiled by many of them — is sickening. That almost 900,000 more Americans are working than a month ago and more Americans are working than when Obama took office undercuts their argument that only Governor Mitt Romney and Congressman Paul Ryan can right the economy and the job market and that they will do so through the austerity measures which have devastated our state and local governments as well as the governments in Europe.

When the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics under George W. Bush says he believes the numbers as it would be impossible to, as Fox News puts it, “cook the books,” I believe the BLS.

When you look at three straight years of job gains and plot those gains out on a chart and see that this fall is entirely consistent with the decreased unemployment rate over those three years, I believe the BLS.

When you look at the significant increase in consumer confidence in September (likely at least partially due to increased employment), I believe the BLS.

When you look at where Monster’s numbers come from (how many employers are posting jobs to their job board and not niche boards, aggregators, LinkedIn, etc.), I believe the BLS.

When you look at where Glassdoor’s numbers come from (active job seekers who use Glassdoor and choose to respond to a scientifically invalid poll), I believe the BLS.

When you look at the very, very similar numbers coming out of Canada, I believe the BLS.

When you look at those who wish the BLS numbers weren’t true as the validity of those numbers make it less likely that their preferred political party will win the elections in four weeks, I believe the BLS.