Bush Officials Offer Cautions on White House Jobs Forecast

[kskiska]

RICHLAND, Wash., Feb. 17 — Treasury Secretary John W. Snow distanced himself on Tuesday from the Bush administration's official prediction that the nation would add 2.6 million jobs by the end of this year.

That prediction, which is far more optimistic than that of many private sector forecasters, was part of the annual economic report released last week by the White House Council of Economic Advisers and was immediately echoed by Mr. Bush himself.

But on a tour through Washington and Oregon to promote the president's economic agenda, Mr. Snow and Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans both declined to endorse the White House prediction and cautioned that it was based on economic assumptions that have an inherent margin of error.

"I think we are going to create a lot of jobs; how many I don't know," Mr. Snow said, adding that "macroeconomic models are based on a lot of assumptions" and are "not without a range of error."

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/18/politics/18JOBS.html?hp

[jayfish]

1. This Looks Like An Ominous Sign For The US Economy.

To go from 2.6 million to "I don't know" is a pretty bold swing.

Jay

[kysrsoze]

9. Margin of error must be about 2 million

Snow sucks ass. I really respect O'Neill after reading his book. He obviously tried to do the right thing, as did Christine Whitman and they were both shit on by Cheney et al. Of course, Colon Poowell went right along with the company line, as does Snow. Assholes!

[radfringe]

14. another article

that followed the 2.6 million prediction - had bush predicting 3.2 million jobs and now to 'I don't know'

amazing what you can do with an abacus and fuzzy math

[mike1963]

2. "not without a range of error..." He may be joining Paul O'Neill soon...

:eyes:

[Voltaire99]

3. Start yer engines, Amurrica!

Don't worry about jobs. Wal-Mart is building as fast as communities can be cajoled into giving it tax breaks.

[alcuno]

4. I thought someone had revised it upward to 3.5 million.

After the 2.6 million number came out, people were shaking their heads in disbelief. Then it was revised upward; just last week, I believe.

[lovedems]

5. Me too. I remember thinking how bold they are in their lies and

projections. They don't even attempt cover it up anymore.

This sucks because my husband has been unemployed for 7 months now and there just isn't much out there. Not that will support us like we use to support ourselves anyway.

[jayfish]

6. You Are Correct Sir. Have A Link.

Fools

-SNIP-
When the Bush administration issued the Economic Report of the President Monday, several news organizations reported there would be 2.6 million new jobs this year. But that number was based on the difference between projected average payrolls for this year and last year.
In order to achieve that number, a White House source explained Tuesday, the President's Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) is forecasting about 320,000 new jobs will be created every month this year. That would be about 3.8 million in total, or about 2.9 percent higher than the December 2003 total estimated by the Labor Department.
-SNIP-

No comment.

Jay

[kysrsoze]

10. It was actually 3.8 million

Whatever.

[scarface2004]

7. how many jobs??!!

2.6, no 26, no 260, no 26,000, no 260,000, no 2,600,000, yeah..thats the ticket!!

[w4rma]

8. Margin of error is plus or MINUS a few million, I guess. (n/t)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

11. Did I say 2.6 Million? I MEANT

3.8 Million! Yeah, that's the ticket!

[Arbustosux]

12. ** Poll has a margin of error of 2.5 million

damn statistics

[daleo]

13. Later they can blame intelligence agencies for the missing jobs

"We were mis-led by incorrect intelligence estimates of jobs of mass employment. However, we think they may still be found - or at least activities related to programs of jobs of mass employment. We must be firm in our resolve to keep looking for these jobs."