In reading the Associated Press's 9:09 a.m. report covering the Bureau of Labor Statistics November Employment Situation Report, one can't help but think that it was hoping for worse news than arrived. Unemployment remained at 4.7%, and 94,000 jobs were added during the month, beating expectations of 4.8% and 70,000, respectively.
After spending five paragraphs relaying the news, it began hitting us with negative commentary that almost had to have been drafted in advance (scare words bolded):
Still, a lingering fear among economists is that consumers will cut back on their spending, throwing the economy into a tailspin. The odds of a recession have grown this year, although Federal Reserve officials, the Bush administration and others are hopeful the country can avoid one.
Then, after brief foray into the good news about wage growth (up 0.5% in November, beating expectations of 0.3%), AP wrapped by going into four paragraphs that almost could have been written into a DNC press release (over-the-top negative words and phrases bolded by me):
The housing and mortgage markets have melted down. Home foreclosures have soared to record highs. Credit has dried up. Lenders have been forced out of business. Financial companies have wracked up billions of dollars worth of losses from bad subprime mortgage investments.
Against this backdrop, Wall Street has endured a fresh bout of turbulence in recent weeks.
Given these stresses, the economy, which logged its strongest growth in four years in the third quarter, is expected to slow to a pace of just 1.5 percent or less in the current October-to-December period.
Economic uncertainties are coloring peoples’ views of President Bush’s stewardship. His approval rating on the economy was just 36 percent in December, according to an AP-Ipsos poll. The meltdown in the housing and mortgage markets has raised dangers to the economy and created headaches for politicians. The mess has given Republicans and Democrats plenty of fodder to point blame at each other.
Remember that GDP prediction. I certainly will.
Credit has "dried up"? Not according to HSH Associates, which reported the following on December 5 (bold is mine):
Applications Jump
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the index of mortgage applications to purchase or refinance, increased by the most in more than three years. Applications increased 22.5% to 791.8. Refinancing rose 32% to 2761.3, while purchasing rose 15% to 464.3.
If (mortgage) credit has "dried up," I would expect that all of these unfortunate applicants are wasting their time, and will be summarily turned down. You and I know that's not true. So does AP.
Cross-posted in modified form as part of this entry at BizzyBlog.com.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters
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Why does the Associated
December 7, 2007 - 11:37 ET by TEWhy does the Associated (with terrorists) Press not provide the name of the leftist dupe who wrote this editorial and why does the Associated (with terrorists) Press fail to identify the authors of many of its other editorials/DNC press releases? Is the author of this DNC press release afraid of being exposed or is the Associated (with terrorists) Press merely protecting its useful idiots?
Agenda Driven Left
December 7, 2007 - 11:54 ET by RovinWe must remember TE that Iraq is in a civil war and the polar ice caps are melting at the same pace as the braincells of the MSM. This will surely bring our economy into a "tailspin"----MSM = DEMOCRATIC TAILSPIN.
Rovin
Author of article
December 7, 2007 - 12:41 ET by The ColonelIt was written by Jeannine Aversa. She is listed as an AP Economics Writer.
http://www.newsday.com/business/nationworld/ats-ap_business10dec07,0,1044428.story
My favorite quote is: "Workers with jobs saw brisk wage growth." Um....I'm sorry but if you don't have a job you aren't a worker. You are unemployed....
IMO all this talk about the mortgage meltdown is a load of crap. It's a meltdown in sub-prime mortgages (or loans that shouldn't have been made in the first place). Banks and Mortgage Companies know that these are high-risk loans and they expect a certain percentage of them to default. If the Bank is smart they have this factored into their business plan, if they don't then they go out of business. Sorry...bye bye.
What we don't need is for the Federal Gov't to start "helping" the people with sub-prime mortgages or the companies that made the bad loans. It's none of their business - stay out of it! The market (when left alone) will correct itself. That is exactly what is happening in the world of real estate now.
Will some people have tough times over the next few years? Yes. Does the Fed. Gov't need to get involved? Not just no but hell no!
The Colonel
"When the government's boot is on your throat, whether it is a left boot or a right boot is of no consequence."
Think "agenda"! They
December 7, 2007 - 12:30 ET by Sonny LykosThink "agenda"!
They are never off track. Never!
Jesus Christ can return and they will attack his "unkempt" appearance as though he was obviously just a homeless man, and after performing a couple of "miracles", he'd be labeled as the best "illusionist" of our time.
Joseph Goebbels would be very proud of them all.
Clinton playbook redux
December 7, 2007 - 12:34 ET by LionKingIt's the economy, stupid!
The MSM is playing along with this non-issue in an attempt to make it an issue. If a bad economy can become major, it will shift focus off of other important issues like national security and illegal immigration...just for starters.
Time to name names!
December 7, 2007 - 12:35 ET by TyromacI wonder what a Lexis search with the word "surprise" would yield when it comes to economic articles for the past few years. Whoever A/P or any of these MSM folks are talking to have been exposed as complete buffoons. They've been surprised for years and yet they keep getting asked for their opinions. Who the hell are these people, let's have some names and expose them for what they are - idiots!!
The MSM has sure done their work for the Dems...
December 7, 2007 - 13:07 ET by Prester John....and I wonder what they expect in return?
Consumer sentiment 2nd worst in 15 years
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Consumers haven't felt this bad in 15 years, other than when the country was trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina, according to a survey released Friday.
Readings of consumer sentiment and consumer expectations hit lows last reached in October 2005 following the hurricane that forced more than 800,000 citizens to leave their homes. Before that, consumer sentiment hadn't been so low since 1992, when the nation was recovering from recession.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/consumer-sentiment-falls-second-lowest/story.aspx?guid=%7BDC632F77%2DFE95%2D4345%2DA854%2D9B6112474207%7D
4.7% unemployment, low interest rates, the stock market up and people think the economy stinks? On a local basis I can understand it perhaps, but nationally?
Either someone is cooking the numbers or the American people are even more gullible that we thought.
Wow.
I suspect a hidden agenda
December 7, 2007 - 13:46 ET by dscottI suspect a hidden agenda here with the AP/MSM its called increasing productivity (6.7%), they know in the employment world that unskilled labor, temps and part timers are the first to go when a company's productivity increases. Where are productivity gains felt? Unskilled labor... The unemployment stats are not going to reflect the illegals who will be laid off or not hired from this productivity gain. In this sense, a productivity gain is a loss of jobs just like a recession. IMO, productivity gains are currently driven by increased cost of labor forcing businesses like farms to innovate to reduce their exposure (# of employees) to rising wages and ICE raids on the illegals.
Between productivity gains and increased enforcement of working status, they (MSM) are not happy that all those voters are going to go back south of the border before the elections. To make up for those lost voters, the MSM must get the ordinary American to believe or feel like we are in recession in order to vote Dem in 2008.
If you think this is far fetched, then ask yourself why the Dems and MSM continue to claim manufacturing in the US is in decline when the facts demonstrate otherwise? Why? Because their constituency, the unions, are losing members in manufacturing jobs to automation. The domestic auto industry has been churning out around 13 million vehicles a year since 1994, yet workers needed to produce those vehicles have dropped 17% since 2000. That's really only a 2% annual productivity gain, but clearly devastating to the unions. That's what happens when you over price your wages, never mind blaming the Chinese. If you measure manufacturing strength by the number of people employed, you end up with the wrong conclusion. If you ask the wrong question, you get the wrong answer!
Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. dscott's corollary: The line between malice and stupidity is called depraved indifference.
Another Stupid the Economy is great post.
December 7, 2007 - 15:07 ET by Daniel BakerGreat for who? These broad numbers like unemployment do not disprove the media feeling that not everything is rosy. Communism had low unemployment too.
So Daniel...what's wrong with the economy?
December 7, 2007 - 15:11 ET by LionKingEnlighten us. What's wrong with the economy?