Jobless rate soared to 14.7% in April as U.S. shed 20.5 million jobs amid coronavirus pandemic

[progree]

54. "When presidents crow about how "since taking office x million jobs have been created..."

Last edited Sat May 9, 2020, 03:39 PM - Edit history (2)

No, they are always talking about the Establishment Survey job count numbers because that's what I compare their statements to when they make them. And when I've checked the White House Council of Economic Advisers job count statements, they are also referring to the Establishment Survey numbers https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/economy-jobs/

Here's the first paragraph of the lead article:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/aprils-job-losses-show-many-workers-still-connected-employers/

Over the past weeks, Americans’ efforts to slow COVID-19’s spread have helped flatten the curve. As a result of this action, the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) April Employment Situation report shows that nonfarm payroll employment fell by 20.5 million and the unemployment rate (U-3) jumped 10.3 percentage points to 14.7 percent. Both of these monthly changes are the largest in the series’ histories, as never before has the United States halted large portions of its economic activity.

I don't see any mention of the Household Survey's Employed anywhere in the report.

Show me any examples of the Trump / White House leading off with that, as opposed to the Establishment Survey numbers.

Edited to add another example from March 6 -- the first 2 paragraphs of which are
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/job-creation-exceeds-expectations-women-workers-see-gains-2/

The U.S. labor market continues to build on its impressive gains over the past three years of the Trump Administration. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ monthly Employment Situation release, nonfarm payroll employment increased by 273,000 in February—adding nearly 100,000 more jobs than market expectations.

Additionally, preliminary payroll growth estimates for January and December were revised upward by a total of 85,000 jobs, bringing the monthly average over the past three months to 243,000 new jobs. To put these gains in context, in only two months, the U.S. economy has added 105,000 more jobs than the Congressional Budget Office projected would be created over the entirety of calendar year 2020 (441,000) in its final pre-2016 election forecast.

No mention of the Household Survey's Employed there either. (full disclosure: it increased by only 45,000 in that month LNS12000000 )