I know that for the past eleven or so months, the first Friday of the month is usually full of doom and gloom regarding the newly released unemployment numbers. So it may come as a shock to all of you that this month, I truly am pleased to see that the unemployment rate has in fact decreased while the number of new jobs increased substantially. And while I need to take some time and do more than just a cursory glance over all aspects of the new report, the areas I generally hone in on (part-time unemployment, long-term joblessness, etc.,) all indicate more positive numbers than in previous reports.
This is great news for the millions of American families devastated by the drawn out effects of the recession which purportedly ended in the Fall of 2001. Two years is a long time for the economy to kick into an upward cycle, and although I'm actually not convinced this is truly "it" (in fact, I think, like Atrios, that this month is actually just a reprieve before things get much worse, but then I'm known to be a Cassandra on these issues), any good news is welcome.
Posted by MB Williams at November 7, 2003 09:40 AM | TrackBack