Some of last week’s weakness in the stock market was attributed to surprisingly week jobs report on Friday. Non-farm payrolls came in significantly below projections.

However, much of that weakness was explained by Hurricane Florence. And the headline unemployment rate dropped to 3.7% – the lowest in almost 50 years.

Much was made of that, while almost nothing was made of the rate of employment at 60.4% – also near 50-year lows.

Headline unemployment statistics continue to be, in our view, some of the most misleading numbers produced by the federal bureaucracy, and that is a very tall bar indeed.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics certainly knows how to cook the books. It’s remarkable how functionaries there can get away with reporting unemployment and employment rates simultaneously falling to near 50-year lows. Of course, both t ... Read more »