On Oct 7, 2012, at 10:50 PM, Steve Diamond <[email protected]> wrote:
> Most likely, Obama is just lucky that there is an "autumn effect" on the > numbers. (Rasmus does not mention what I think might help the rise in part > timers every fall: farmworkers and college campus student workers, but others > here likely know for sure whether those help.) That's what seasonal adjustment is for. That's one of the reasons they call it "seasonal adjustment." > Nonetheless, it should be noted that the BLS - of course no doubt a haven of > Obamabot labor economists - does not actually collect the data for the HH > survey. That's the job of the Census Bureau which until this summer was > headed up by an Obama appointee whose academic work was all about revising > data collection to be more "inclusive". > > The real question is whether or not the manner of collecting the data was > changed in any way since he took over. Anyone who thinks Axelrod and co. > don't think about such things is naive. More "inclusive" would mean covering demographics with lower employment and participation rates, you know. That would make the numbers look worse, not better. There's good evidence they're undercovered, too, so it would be the right thing to do. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
