"nor can i easily imagine what was so different about last week (relative to the previous week) that the adjustment went from +9000 to -90000." ---------------------------------------------------------------
TJ Parker....
The answer to your question - Because that is what it took to get a positive report.
Your points are well taken - I think that few thinking folks have much faith in the employment numbers any more. They are so blatantly "adjusted" that only nuclear war would cause a slowdown to show up in them. It is strange that the Challenger-Christmas report (by far the most respected) showed a huge rise in new layoffs for last month that never showed up in the "official" government numbers, and since that report came out there have been new announcements daily of new layoffs for thousands of jobs per day.
The employment report is the government answer to "pro-forma" earnings.
You just discovered the fact that the unemployment numbers are the most manipulated numbers, bar none. They are produced, massaged, and spit out by the most corrupt and manipulated body in this country. The U.S. government. Actual unemployment in the U.S. has been more like 9-10% for a while now, but what you don't know can't hurt you. Just ask all the unemployed. Oh well... JMHO.
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