Reprinted from Paul Craig Roberts
See UPDATE below.
Friday's payroll jobs report is another government fairy tale or, to avoid polite euphemisms, another packet of lies just like the House of Representatives Resolution against Russia and every other statement that comes out of Washington.
Washington is averse to truth. Washington can only lie.
First let's pretend that the 321,000 new jobs that the government claims the economy created in November are true, and let's see where these jobs are.
Specialty trade contractors, which I think are home and office remodelers, accounted for 20,000 jobs. I doubt that people are putting money into houses and buildings that are worth less than the mortgage.
Manufacturing accounted for 28,000 -- a very high monthly figure for recent years, one that is unbelievable in view of the rise in the trade deficit and declines in consumer spending on furniture (-3.8%), major appliances (-8.3%), women's apparel (-17.7%), and household textiles such as towels and sheets (-26.5%), and when US business investment consists of corporations repurchasing their own stocks.
The rest of the claimed jobs are in private domestic services, that is, they are third-world jobs. Retail trade claims 50,200 and transportation and warehousing claims 16,700. These numbers are impossible to believe in view of the closings of middle class department stores and Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales flops.
Financial activities claims 20,000, most of which appear to be insurance related -- perhaps the growth of Obamacare bureaucracy.
Professional and business services claims 86,000, a very large number for recent years. What are professional and business services?
Professional and business services are "accounting and bookkeeping services" (16,400 jobs) -- a possible (temporary) increase as W2s for 2014 are coming due to be issued -- and "administrative and support services (40,600 jobs) -- mainly temps.
Next we come to "health care and social assistance" with 37,200 jobs concentrated in "ambulatory health care services" and "social assistance."
Then we have "food services and drinking places" with 26,500 claimed jobs.
Bringing up the rear is Government employment with 7,000 jobs.
What are we to make of these job claims?
It is unlikely that there were 26,500 new jobs for waitresses and bartenders when consumer spending on restaurants, alcohol, and entertainment declined by 3.8%, 4.5%, and 5.4%. Restaurants and bars do not hire more people when demand is dropping.
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