Good news. Bad news. It’s obvious which Bloomberg News prefers.
Bloomberg News published a relatively positive economic report with the headline, “U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall, Ease Worry of Worsening Market.” Then, by 1:57 pm on July 9, the headline was changed to reflect a much more doom-and-gloomish outlook: “U.S. Jobless Claims Fall While Corporate Cuts Signal More Pain.” Even the bullet-points were changed. The original headline put a positive view on the data that Bloomberg News presented in its article. But with the negative headline change, the outlet undercut that entire perspective.
Initial jobless claims falling, is now not really good news at all.
The piece, which remained unaltered, said that “The jobs data showed initial jobless claims in regular state programs fell by 99,000 to 1.31 million in the week ended July 4. That was a steeper drop than forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists.” It also said that the decline was “the most in a month.”
The article said that the total number of Americans claiming ongoing unemployment benefits in state programs "declined to 18.1 million in the week ended June 27, compared with a median projection of 18.8 million.”
Too much good news, eh Bloomberg News?
Of course, the article itself was still riddled with liberal spin, such as its lede paragraph: “Even with fewer Americans applying for unemployment benefits last week, the labor-market outlook remains bleak.”
Still, there were many positive takeaways from the report that should encourage American consumers. For example, “Without seasonal adjustments, state initial claims fell by a more-moderate 32,000 from the prior week.”
Also, “Without seasonal adjustments, state initial claims fell by a more-moderate 32,000 from the prior week. Of states that have seen a recent surge in outbreaks, California and Florida saw decreases in unadjusted initial claims from the prior week.” On an unadjusted basis, “continuing claims for state programs decreased by about 631,000 to 16.8 million,” according to Bloomberg News.
Contact Bloomberg News and tell them to change the headline back to the original.
