The Wall Street Journal‘s headline today:
TEPID JOB GROWTH FUELS WORRY: Unemployment Rate Hits 7.8% as Economy Stays Sluggish
Doesn’t the word “hits” there kind of make you think the rate rose to 7.8%? But no, it was 7.8% last month too, and is down from 8.5% at the end of last year.
Meanwhile, the New York Times goes with
JOB CREATION IS STILL STEADY DESPITE WORRY: Gain of 155,000 Keeps Jobless Rate at 7.8%
which gets the constancy of the unemployment right — but “steady” alone conveys a misleadingly sunny impression.
Cheers to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which rolls it pretty straight down the lane:
JOBLESS RATE STAYS PUT: U.S. economy adds just 155,000 jobs in its 34th month of subpar growth
It’s steady and tepid!
I might have eliminated the word, “just”, in the Milwaukee Journal story, but maybe it is an editorial.
“Little change in unemployment or job gains” may convey more and be more accurate than any of the above. (Nov unemployment was revised up from 7.7%)
see also http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2013/01/04/the-curious-predictability-of-the-payrolls-report/