Stupid Government Unemployment Statistics.

The stupidity of government statistics can never be underestimated. Here is my comments on a recent news report - AP report August 11, 2011 by Daniel Wagner. Understand, I am not impugning Mr. Wagner, he merely reports what the government reports. However, how he can write his reports without climbing the walls in sheer arithmetical frustration is a wonder to me. According to government statistics, he reported as follows:

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The number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits fell 60,000 to 3.69 million. But that doesn't include nearly 4 million additional unemployed people who are receiving extended unemployment benefits from other programs.

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The sentence is almost too absurd to summarize. But let me try. There was a decrease in people receiving unemployment benefits, as long as, we do not include 4 million other people receiving unemployment benefits. I have a significant improvement. Under my improved government stupid statistics scenario, the revised report would read -- The number of people who are continuing to receive unemployment benefits fell to zero. But that doesn't include nearly 7.7 million unemployed people who are receiving unemployment benefits. Now is that not a lot better? 

This government statistic is almost as notoriously misleading as the stupid unemployment percentage that does not include people who have stopped looking for a job. I have ragged on this one before. For example, if everyone stops looking for a job, then unemployment, according to the stupid government unemployment statistic, goes to zero. With zero unemployment, the stock market would skyrocket and companies would start to hire more people. And as long as the millions of people who are unemployed, but not looking for a job, actually looked for a job without reporting it to the government; hence keeping unemployment at zero, then there is a good chance they would find a job.

As Forrest Gump said, "Stupid is as stupid does." I often wondered who Forrest was referring too with that memorable sentence and now I know.