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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1325780
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1325780
Not surprising. There’s a finite number of jobs to be laid off from and so many have been already laid off. But Trump and Kudlow will claim a v-shaped recovery anyway.
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It will be interesting to follow what happens over the next few months as the pandemic continues and parents are dealing with school for their children. The fall will also bring the flu season. Hopefully, that will be minimal, but only if people wear masks, stay apart, and follow best practice. But we’ve done the experiment and have seen the disregard too many people in this country have exhibited, so the odds on not favorable going forward unless something major changes.
I’d also like to know if the data is real and complete? I simply do not trust anyone in the current administration. Again, we’ve done the experiment and seen how they have and try to mislead with fake data.
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Well, my wife can’t even get through to the PA unemployment number: it just hangs up on her, every time. So add 1 to the total. 
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Thank God! Now we can all quit wearing masks, hug our neighbors, send our kids back to school, eat inside restaurants, and quit whining about needing unemployment assistance, because everyone is working again.*
*This message brought to you by the RNC and the Trump Campaign Committee.
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The BLS is known for it’s integrity. Could Trump have corrupted it too? Maybe. However, even if the data are unsullied, are they representative? Last month’s unemployment figures were collected over a day or two in early July and were not representative of the month as a whole.
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The complete report is here. As is too common, the devil is in the details.
The previous week’s level was revised up by 5,000 from 1,186,000 to 1,191,000. The 4-week moving average was 1,252,750, a decrease of 86,250 from the previous week’s revised average. The previous week’s average was revised up by 1,250 from 1,337,750 to 1,339,000.
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If we have such a productive economy, why can’t we produce enough rubbing alcohol to meet demand?
I’ve been trying to find and buy a bottle in the stores for about 6 weeks since my bottle hit the halfway mark.
I can buy a box of 50 count 3 ply masks for $11.99 with no limit. But rubbing alcohol? Fugetaboutit
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Cool. Once everyone is unemployed the number will fall to zero. Fantastic!!!
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Wait for Trump to take credit for numbers stemming from the economic downfall he is responsible for. And the media won’t mention the last part.
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In other news, Florida is going to bring in Navy Seals to force schools to reopen:
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Every cloud has a silver lining:
It’s the burial at sea that concerns me.
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Exactly. A temporary pause in the bad news.
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As if facts are important.
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OT. The Chinese are about to show Bolsonaro in what side he ought to be, he may love Trump, but the economic reality points west…
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China is paying us $83 billion a month in tariffs. True story.
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OT, but . . .
. . . I’m not seeing the problem here:
GOP would ‘never get the Senate back again’
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They’d swear that Trumpp has a v-shaped torso, so I’ll ignore anything they have to say about V’s.
Trumpp should stick to Q.
Yes, exactly. But there is another critical element to the story that TPM gets wrong every single week. I’ve done everything that a loyal TPM subscriber could do to try to get them to stop making this mistake, but they neither correct it nor even acknowledge my communications.
In short, the correct headline IS NOT that there were 900,000 unemployment claims last week. No. No. No. That number is not the number of claims. It is the number of FIRST TIME claims! There are about 16 million people getting unemployment insurance compensation; in most states, you must make a claim every week you are unemployed.
Sorry. Don’t mean to yell, but getting this story right is the easy stuff. There’s no excuse for erroneous TPM headlines.
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You identify one more devil in a constellation of details.