Employers Added Just 98,000 Jobs in March Below Expectations of 180,000 (usatoday.com)

Employers slowed their pace of hiring while the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in almost a decade in March, highlighting steady but sometimes mixed progress across the labor market. From a report on USA Today: Payroll growth weakened significantly last month amid harsher winter weather as employers added 98.000 jobs in a sharper pullback than anticipated. The unemployment rate, which is calculated from a different survey, fell to 4.5% from 4.7%, the Labor Department said Friday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected 180,000 employment gains, based on their median estimate. Analysts expected some payback in March after unseasonably mild temperatures pulled forward hiring to early in the year, especially in sectors such as construction, resulting in 200,000-plus job gains in January and February. And a snowstorm that slammed into the Midwest and East Coast in mid-March likely further curtailed job growth, says economist Jim O'Sullivan of High Frequency Economics. [...] But some economists also have said the outsize job gains early this year defied a low unemployment rate that's supplying businesses a shrinking pool of available workers. Many analysts expect that trend ultimately to result in average monthly job gains of about 170,000 this year, down from 187,000 last year and 226,000 in 2015.

Comments

We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Joe_Dragon]

We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

or someone willing to work 60-80 hours a week in the bay area for 60K

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

Fake news! Jan and Feb reports were real, but this is fake news. They are all fake unless they make trump look good. He is a great guy and not at all an idiot firing missiles because if Kim gets to he wants to too!

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[bluefoxlucid]

"The jobs are going away, folks. The jobs are going away. *waves pinched fingers* *shakes titties*" -- Donald J. Trump

I still want to transition to 32-hour work weeks, or maybe as low as 28. That's one of the side goals of my Universal Social Security plan: the efficiency improvements would normally lead to sharp population expansion, but I'd rather stall wealth growth in favor of shorter working hours. At a point, being wealthier doesn't really help you, because you buy all these toys but you work all the time and don't have any leisure hours to play with them.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

Fake news! Jan and Feb reports were real, but this is fake news. They are all fake unless they make trump look good. He is a great guy and not at all an idiot firing missiles because if Kim gets to he wants to too!

Hmm. I seem to recall that around 100k was just keeping pace with the growth of the work force, which admittedly is probably fine given our already low unemployment rate, that Trump of course had nothing to do with.

Now I don't deny their wasn't some irrational exuberance due to a republican getting in office, even if he barely qualifies. The question is, I suppose, is whether or not that initial exuberance is petering out already? I moved my 401k fund to a stable value fund in January, which in hindsight appears to have been a mistake. I'm probably moving to an international indexed fund to keep away from the result of Trump's policies a bit. I figure at some point feel good policy based on a pseudo religion can't produce good long term results. The really annoying issue is the stock market is not long term, so I suppose you do the best you can do.

On the bright side I haven't lost any money. I just didn't gain as much as I could have.

As far as the H1B goes, my position continues to be that there should be no long term ways of staying employed in this country without having basic rights, such as the ability to vote. If we need em, let em become citizens, but no BS crap where they are somehow pseudo tied to a staffing company or some such crap.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what you'll be saying when you cannot support your $100K lifestyle anymore because an H1B worker will do the same work for $40K.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Nidi62]

At a point, being wealthier doesn't really help you, because you buy all these toys but you work all the time and don't have any leisure hours to play with them.

You don't buy all those toys to play with them. You buy all those toys because someone else at the country club bought them, and because Bob down the street doesn't own them and you want him to be jealous. Or did you think they actually used those extra 2 kitchens and 4 bedrooms, or the Olympic sized swimming pool with waterfall and and built-in grill that would give Bobby Flay wet dreams? That's why they have to lease the newest Range Rover, Porsche, or BMW every 2 years. Once you reach a certain threshold, toys aren't meant to be used, they're meant to be seen.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[number6x]

January and February of 2017 were also down from the 2016 and 2015 numbers. Sean Spicer was talking about how great Trump's numbers were, until it was pointed out that Obama did better.

Of course it's all probably just fake news or alt-facts or aliens or something.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

or someone willing to work 60-80 hours a week in the bay area for 60K

Just call Creimer, he seems to be happy making that little.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[DickBreath]

Are robotic worker units allowed to be counted as jobs?

It wounds better to say we created X number of jobs than to say we downsized X human beings and replaced them with foreign made robots that don't get sick, strike, complain, want raises and benefits, or make crazy demands for humane working conditions and safety.

Replacing people with robots is like printing money! Or burning fossil fuels. It can be done forever without any consequences! It's great!

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

If you want to stall your own wealth growth, because you don't need it, that's fine.

If you want to stall my wealth growth because you think I don't have a good reason to want that money, then fuck you!

Wealth is freedom, fucker. It gives me the option to not have to work if I don't want to.

Wealth is power, fucker. It gives me greater political influence and the means of accomplishing any of my goals.

I have every reason in the world to want more of it, and you efforts at stopping me will be resisted. Vehemently resisted.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[bluefoxlucid]

Rich people take vacations and private jet flights. Middle-classers just up-size their house from 982sqft (1950 average new single-family home size) to 2,300sqft (2000 size) and try to figure on when they can play all their XBox games.

Generally, we've gotten bigger houses and apartments to store our computers, tablets, kitchen appliances, washing machines, 6 TVs (one in every room), guitars, bicycles, fancy lamps, and so forth. We've also started to eat at McDonalds a lot, because who has time to cook? If we cooked, we couldn't watch all that anime on Netflix.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Type44Q]

Your meaningless jabber would be a little more bearable if it didn't smell like dick...

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

This person must be stopped.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Nidi62]

Generally, we've gotten...6 TVs (one in every room)....We've also started to eat at McDonalds a lot, because who has time to cook? If we cooked, we couldn't watch all that anime on Netflix.

I solved that problem by putting a TV in the kitchen ;)

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what you'll be saying when you cannot support your $100K lifestyle anymore because an H1B worker will do the same work for $40K.

100k in the parent posters case referred to the needed employment growth to break even. The rest of your post implies that it is morally correct to create an artificial scarcity to benefit Americans first. I wouldn't go that far, though I'd benefit from it.

I would argue, otoh, that it is 100% fair game for a government to bid jobs to companies taking into account how much the net cost is after they recover money in taxes. That is just simple math.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[swillden]

efficiency improvements would normally lead to sharp population expansion

Huh? Humans are not rabbits. All evidence shows that the wealthier we get, the fewer children we have.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[fluffernutter]

I'd be more worried about the fake war he is starting with Russia.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

People don't really like work, and are error-prone when doing work, so making robots do it instead is objectively superior.

It's only a problem because people must work in order to subsist. That isn't a problem with the robots, that is a problem with our economic model.

So, you are complaining about the wrong thing.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

Little? Creimer does everything Big! Big mouth, Big ego, Big blow-up doll wife.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

If we cooked, we couldn't watch all that anime on Netflix.

Didn't you juts say there was a TV in the Kitchen?

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

*golf clap*

PICARD: That's what this is all about. A lot has changed in the past three hundred years. People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of things. We've eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions. We have grown out of our infancy.
RALPH: You've got it all wrong. It's never been about possessions. It's about power.
PICARD: Power to do what?
RALPH: To control your life, your destiny.
PICARD: That kind of control is an illusion.
RALPH: Really? I'm here, aren't I? I should be dead but I'm not.

Clever troll.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Maxo-Texas]

It's odd tho.. it takes me less time to cook and clean up from a meal that costs less than mcdonalds at home and would cost me $40 if I ate out.

Wild caught salmon...
Put over a low heat in some olive oil or butter with a bit of seasoning of the day on top and perhaps a line of mayo. Place in veggies around the edge of the skilliet. Set timer for 8 minutes. Turn salmon at 8 minutes. Set timer for 4 minutes. Test that it's 'flaky' at 12 minutes and that the veggies are tender. Transfer to plate. Put 1/8" of water into pan, lightly boil, wipe pan clean.
Crack open a nice chardonnay or make a martini.

Vs...

Drive to mcdonalds/wendy's/taco bell* for 8 minutes. Order and wait for 8 minutes. Drive home for 8 minutes.
Put 12 miles on the car- probably use quarter gallon of gasoline- risk an accident.

*But not burger king. I got some coupons last month and that food is nasty and almost pure carbs. I don't know how they stay in business.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[sexconker]

What if you're watching an anime cooking show while you're cooking? I don't think there are any on Netflix, though.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[bluefoxlucid]

No, all evidence shows that when an individual human unit gets wealthier, it slows its rapid breeding. Humans don't need to produce more children when fewer die out, either, as a society.

As a population, a human society includes a gradient of wealth. The expansion of that society causes scarcity pressures, which eventually limit that expansion. Those limits are felt at different levels in different ways.

Think about food. If you have fertile land in good climate to produce food for 10,000,000 people, and have a population of 5,000,000, what happens if you raise your population by 20%? You add 1,000,000 people. You've still got the same specifications for making food: if you have to expend 10% of your population to make food, then before you had 500,000 people working on food production (farmers, fertilizer chemists, shipping, tractor makers, tool makers, etc.), and now you have an additional 100,000.

With that expansion, there's 20% more food, 20% more people, and 20% more hours of each type of labor going into making the food. The cost per unit of food required for each person is unchanged.

Now what happens if you have 10,000,000 people and bump by 20%?

You now have 2,000,000 more people to feed, and you have to farm on less-viable land. You need more irrigation and more fertilizer. You get lower yield, so need to farm over a wider span of land. That means more farm hands, more seeding, and an increase in all inputs (e.g. you need more fuel for the tractors, more water irrigating that whole span, twice the fertilizer to handle twice the land area, etc.).

Up to now, 2 million people required 200,000 laborers to make food. Now it requires 400,000 for these additional 2 million mouths to feed. That means the marginal cost of food is higher--in total, 11.67% instead of 10% of your population works on making food.

That means 1.67% of your income which was spent on other things is instead spent on food production. Those other things aren't made (less wealth) because they can't be bought. For rich people, this is essentially-unimportant: food requirements are generally constant, and rich people buy more-expensive food (pay for additional luxury) and so have both flexibility and an existing deep investment in luxury--and they still pay a very small portion of their income for food, even if they're eating caviar and lobster.

As you get into middle-class and poor, this increase in the cost of food reduces wealth substantially. The middle-class feel poorer; the poorest can't afford to eat. Because of this pressure, they also don't have the capacity to rear families, and will tend to slow down population growth.

As shown by history, resolving this scarcity pressure causes a population increase. This has been demonstrated as recently as 2006, where the recession caused slowed population growth in the United States, and the reduction of unemployment lead to a notable but small increase in population growth (see 2008-2012 versus the employment-population ratio and the unemployment rate as indicators of factors impacting how Americans perceive their access to financial stability). Back in the early 1900s, scarcity of food in particular lead to development of new fertilizers and intensive farming techniques; since the 1950s, world population has been on a sharper upward trend. It keeps happening.

A sharp increase in the sense of stability among family-minded Americans who would like to start a family or have a larger family but who don't feel they can afford it right now will lead to the obvious: sudden financial stability, the perceived capacity to enlarge their family as they've always dreamed, and more children. So it is, so it's always been.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Opportunist]

Wealth isn't freedom. You become a slave of your wealth if you allow yourself to be one. Because you become paranoid, others could want to steal your wealth, you start to worry, you start to protect it, and most of all you start to fear that it may be gone. What you are looking for is security. Security that you have food and shelter tomorrow, even if you for some reason cannot work anymore. That can be accomplished far easier than by accumulating tons of money. I (and everyone in my country) has that security. And few of them are wealthy in a monetary sense.

If you need to first amass a lot of money to get that level of security, I can only pity you, you poor, poor man.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

I see your point but the '6 TV's' comment (and others I see like it) kinda' piss me off because they are not accurate to what they imply.
I see people complain about 'the poors have flat screen TV's' or 'Middle class people have 5 TV's' and the like, as if that is something that points to a drastic change in our standard of living.

In 1954 a 15 inch color TV cost $9,000 in 2017 dollars. ($1,000 in 1954 dollars)
A 32 inch LED 720P TV costs.. $120 in 2017 dollars (Best buy ad this week)
Even non-sale TV's can be had for under $200.

That means, if the TV 'spend' should be the same, they should have 45 to 75 TV's in the house.
Even if you want to equate color TV in 1954 to ultra expensive 4k TV's today you still are off.
A 'cheap' black and white TV in 1954 still cost over $1,000 in 2017 dollars.
That is still 8 TV's worth of TV 'spend'. Seems like they have a couple more TV's to buy to reach the same standard of living.

Obviously, we don't do that.
And while it is true that middle class housing has doubled in square footage, we have also doubled the amount of hours a family has to work to support themselves.
We went from 80% of middle/lower class households being single income to 80% being dual income (mom and dad work)

Shouldn't there be a doubling in the standard of living if we double the labor done?

Also, your ideas on eating out are actually quite wrong. It is true that 2+ people households cook less than they did in the 1950's.
But that is because both adults work now.
What so many people are ignorant of, is just how basic the accommodations were for single and poor people.
Many single people that lived in the city lived in boarding houses. These rooms had NO KITCHEN.
EVERY meal was eaten out. ALL OF THEM.

This, contrary to the narrative many people have is actually a historical standard. Going back to roman times many city dwellers had no oven, stove, cook top, or even a counter for food preparation, and the hours worked were so long they had very little time for the labor involved to prepare food.
So, the majority of city dwellers 'ate out' for nearly every meal they had.

Educate yourself a bit more on history.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[ShanghaiBill]

All evidence shows that the wealthier we get, the fewer children we have.

Only some evidence shows that.
Until about 50 years ago, wealth meant more children.
So what changed?
1. Contraceptives
2. Rapidly falling infant and childhood mortality
3. Increasing urbanization

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm not sharing with Kaitlyn.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

That can be accomplished far easier than by accumulating tons of money. I (and everyone in my country) has that security. And few of them are wealthy in a monetary sense.

Ah, the old "living off the charity of others". It's certainly a way to live, sure, but in the 70 or so years I'd be expected to live around others, I'd rather give more than I take.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah,that's exactly what Steve jobs said,and none of it bought him one extra day.
Enjoy your wealthy but shallow, pointless life.
You are exactly why I think the USA population needs to to be exterminated asap..

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[bluefoxlucid]

That works after you've put in the time to learn to cook, which involves some planning. Most people aren't thinking that far ahead.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

Where did all the ingredients for your amazing home made meal come from? Dir you not need to drive to a store and spend time picking them out? Why is that effort free? Plus, if your local McDonalds takes 8 minutes to fulfill your order, you should demand your food be free. The franchisee is at risk of losing his license if his average order to serve time is 8 minutes. Sheesh!

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[OrangeTide]

I probably have 8 TVs in my house. Every LCD and Laptop is a TV. Some of my "TVs" have RF tuners, others are WiFi, but I can watch programs on any of them.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[nospam007]

"I'd be more worried about the fake war he is starting with Russia."

Or China. The Chinese president closed tens of thousands of golf clubs/courses and forbade 46000 high Party members to play that 'game for millionaires'.
And nothing offends them more than losing face.

And orange Hitler invites him to a golf club.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[OSS542]

And how might we, as you put it, more easily accomplish this ? I'm afraid I missed that part.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[swillden]

All evidence shows that the wealthier we get, the fewer children we have.

Only some evidence shows that. Until about 50 years ago, wealth meant more children. So what changed? 1. Contraceptives 2. Rapidly falling infant and childhood mortality 3. Increasing urbanization

And female education. That seems also to play a very significant role.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[swillden]

Global data pretty clearly demonstrates that we've reached a point where increasing wealth (and especially female education) slows population growth. Indeed, we've already passed the point of peak childbirth; fewer children are born every year and that trend has been continuing for the last 30 years. The only reason population is currently growing -- as wealth continues to increase -- is because we're filling out the age brackets.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

This is why we need guns; not only to oppose government tyranny but also to remove greedy, selfish assholes like this fucktard from the gene pool

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Maxo-Texas]

It's a fair point about the ingredients but my time at mcdonalds is often over 8 minutes-- I was being generous for symmetry. If there is just one person ahead of me they can easily take a few minutes to order.

However, shopping takes me about 30 minutes a week tho. That's a fair point. So add that to the time. Fair enough. 21 meals / 30 minutes-- say 90 seconds per meal (rounding up to 45 minutes for shopping?).

The meal from mcdonalds/wendys/taco bell is still tasty, unhealthy, and expensive compared to home cooking.

And it's Sooooo simple. For the most part, cook meats for 8 minutes over a low heat, turn, cook for 3-4 minutes and you are done. Cooking over a low heat means for the 8 minutes- you don't even have to pay attention to the meal and you can cook the vegetables for free. And it's a lot more healthy than fast food (high carbs, high sodium, other problems).

And as long as you put water in the skillet right away while it is still hot - it's trivial cleanup.

Cooking with HIGH heat causes a problem with cleanup, burns the food, and forces you to pay close attention to the meal.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

I think it's a bit early to be crediting or blaming Trump for job numbers. It's hard to tell at this point, especially the first few months when he and his supporters were trying to say all the positive job and unemployment numbers, which has largely been consistent with the past few years, was all because of him. So, yeah, what you described is foolish but so is the reverse.

Re: We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

Here here, and too be pedantic fast food is expensive! From McDs, a quarter pounder with cheese meal is ~$6.00 after tax. For comparison to eating out somewhere else my locally âowned BBQ joint cost me $10.00 for a large side of baked beans, 1/3lb of smoked sliced brisket w/cheese on a bun with a draw of a light domestic beer. Okay sure the local place is more expensive, but not by much and it doesn't taste like garbage.

Either way OP is right on track, the old adage you are what you eat is true. If you can't spare one hour of shopping a week then you need to reevaluate your life choices lol. Besides my ultra lazy standby is putting a bag of steamer veggies in the microwave and making a quick cold meat sandwich.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Opportunist]

By spreading the risk. I don't need to accumulate wealth myself if I can rely on society's ability to catch me if I fall.

In the end it's way more sensible because not everyone will suddenly lose a limb and be unable to work anymore, so in total we need to accumulate way less wealth just to take care of "just in case" cases.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[Anonymous Coward]

Dumbasses! Admit there is a genocide en course in the USA, at least in this city, currently ongoing. I just found seven obviously abandoned courier-messenger bicycles nearly rotting away in the same post. If there is undiscrimination (remember the laws against discrimination, eh? what about such interpretation, eh?), employers will be lost as well and jobs will suffer along with employable people.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[bluefoxlucid]

So global statistics show population growth is slowing even though we're still growing population faster than ever because population won't really stop growing until it stops growing?

History has shown, and continues to show, that advances in technology reduce scarcity, and that reduction in scarcity directly causes a population boom. Reduction in scarcity is wealth. It's the capacity to feed 7 billion people on a planet that can sustain 0.63 billion humans. It's the capacity to have cars, roads, and rail lines when medieval society couldn't build all that shit in 100 years even if given the industrial population we have. It's the capacity to afford a wardrobe of clothes--you know, rich people things, since people who aren't the Nobility can't produce enough to make it economically viable for most people to own more than one or two sets of good clothes (which eventually get torn up and used as rags, because throwing things like that away is ludicrous).

This is what you're seeing throughout history.

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[swillden]

So global statistics show population growth is slowing even though we're still growing population faster than ever because population won't really stop growing until it stops growing?

No. Global statistics show that the annual total number of births has been steadily declining since the late 80s. Population is growing only because the global population skews young, and we're in the process of filling out the age groups. Hans Rosling explained it very well in this TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Re:We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

[swillden]

BTW, if you don't want to watch the whole video (though I highly recommend it; Rosling does a great job of making dry statistics interesting), you can start at 10:15 for the most relevant part.

Climate change

[dyfet]

So, do to climate change, already seasonally adjusted stats now have to be seasonally adjusted??!

Meanwhile

[110010001000]

Another terrorist attack in Sweden.

Re:Meanwhile

[sexconker]

Binary guy is correct for once.

Both factually (Google it - "In what appeared to be a terrorist attack, a truck plowed into a crowd on a street and crashed into a department store in central Stockholm on Friday.") and rhetorically (this Anti-Trump spin job of a headline attached to a fairly neutral summary is far less significant than another terrorist attack in fragile Europe).

Re:Meanwhile

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh no, a guy with a truck killed people.

A guy texting did three times as much.

Re:Meanwhile

[Actually, I do RTFA]

Binary guy is pretty incorrect, on both dimensions.

Sure there was a terrorist attack in Sweden, but the problem is with the term "another". Yes, there have been past terrorist attacks, but the implication was clearly referencing to the non-existant terrorist attacks Trump spoke of earlier this year as what is "another" to.

And what anti-Trump spin? The numbers were half the prediction. That's pretty dramatic. And the name "Trump" and title "President" appear nowhere.

is far less significant than another terrorist attack in fragile Europe

Well, I would actually disagree on importance from a national level; two people dying is a tragedy, but hardly likely to change anything on a national level. Beyond that, the attack was featured on the front page of the NYTimes and the Washington Post, so...

Thanks Obama

[Anonymous Coward]

So when the figures are good its because it is a hangover from Obama but when the figures are bad its Trump's fault?

Re: Thanks Obama

[Zero__Kelvin]

You know what Forest would say: "Trump is as Trump does"

Re: Thanks Obama

[Anonymous Coward]

That's right...

Hitlery made Russia stronger than ever!

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/446526/clinton-russia-ties-bill-hillary-sold-out-us-interests-putin-regime

Re:Thanks Obama

[naubol]

Oh these early months are not worth bickering about. Like the quote about the stock market, "In the short term, it's a voting machine. In the long term, it's a weighing machine." We'll see what happens over the next 4-8 years. And, there will be two hundred thousand explanations for it, only a few of them driven by carefully crafted hypothesis. Those precious few will be ignored by the couch potatoes.

Re:Thanks Obama

[Zuriel]

Thanks, Obama.

Re:Thanks Obama

[sunking2]

This actually makes sense. So many jobs have been saved that not as many people need to find new ones.

Re:Thanks Obama

[sexconker]

We went through 8 years of Obama where anything bad was blamed on Bush and his policies, yet anything good was credited to Obama, often in advance and for no actual reason (e.g., the Nobel Peace Prize).

Yet even before Trump took office, he was taking blame for shit Obama did or put into motion. Many of the things he was blamed for were simply made up. And when he does something good, no one gives him credit.

The media dug their own graves during the 2-year long campaign cycle (thanks to, Hillary campaigning a fucking year early), and now their spinning in them since that's what they do best.

Re:Thanks Obama

[jader3rd]

This actually makes sense. So many jobs have been saved that not as many people need to find new ones.

Umm, you could have lots of people looking for a job, with no new jobs being added. One of the factors as to why the expectations are what they were, is due to unemployed people entering the job market. So now those people have entered the job market, only to find that less jobs were created.

Re:Thanks Obama

[Anonymous Coward]

Wasn't credit being given to Obama for the numbers going up?

Re:Thanks Obama

[barakn]

Yet even before Trump took office, he was ... shit .... And when he does something good, no one gives him credit

He hasn't done anything well. You're just delusional.

Re:Thanks Obama

[OrangeTide]

That was wrong too. Two wrongs don't make a right.

Re:Thanks Obama

[Anonymous Coward]

Never said it did -- your bias is showing.

Re:News for nerds huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

LGBT yeay.

Liberty
Guns
Booze
Trump

ADP said 230,000

[Anonymous Coward]

Link I saw this EVERYWHERE last week.

ADP is reporting 263,000 jobs added in March. Yet the government, who hates Trump, reports 98,000. Next you will show me the head of the NSA telling Congress that the government doesn't spy on all citizens.

Is this government even trying to sound believable at this point? Doesn't look so.

Re:ADP said 230,000

[PopeRatzo]

Yet the government, who hates Trump, reports 98,000.

That number came from Trump's labor department.

Re:ADP said 230,000

[naubol]

I can see why you think corporations are more trustworthy than any government entity ever, after all, you were relentlessly told not to trust government by a media corporation, yes?

Re:ADP said 230,000

[Anonymous Coward]

I could keep my doctor.
My health insurance is going to drop by $2500 a year.
The NSA isn't spying on ALL US citizens.
They did not spy on Trump's transition team (Susan Rice)
The IRS did nothing even questionable, not an ounce of corruption.

Gee, I have a history of lies from the government. I don't have a history of lies from ADP about jobs, unless you can provide one.

Re:ADP said 230,000

[GameboyRMH]

Well clearly the influence of the DEEP STATE is at work here, to report such un-American job numbers!

I wonder if Trump will request a secret investigation into how many deep state henchmen are in the labor department XD

Re:ADP said 230,000

[Anonymous Coward]

I can see why you think corporations are more trustworthy than any government entity ever, after all, you were relentlessly told not to trust government by a media corporation, yes?

The sad thing is you apparently believe you can trust the government.

Why? Can't be experience...

Capcha: unaware (seems appropriate...)

Re:ADP said 230,000

[naubol]

My roads are paved. I don't have to bribe policemen. It's shocking that there's a city with lead in the water. I can drive from one end of this massive country to the other on awesome highways and be free of highwaymen. I'm sending this message to you on a government invention.

Trust is not binary. Corporations are not perfect entities. Learn you some nuance, please.

#MAGA

[Anonymous Coward]

#TRUMP #TRUMP #TRUMP

This is Obama's fault.

[pteddy]

Sad!

Re:This is Obama's fault.

[Anonymous Coward]

Trump just inherited this mess. Look how good he did on the first two reports!

Trump bump

[Anonymous Coward]

TRUMP BUMP!!!

Shag the Dog

[PopeRatzo]

Yet the government, who hates Trump, reports 98,000.

They also revised that "magnificent" February jobs number...downward.

There must be some middle-eastern country we can bomb.

Re:Shag the Dog

[Anonymous Coward]

oh look - suddenly PopeRatzo cares about jobs too.

Hypocrite.

Re:News for nerds huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahem.

Liquor
Guns
Bacon
Tits

'Murica, Fuck yeah !

Thanks Obama

[jader3rd]

It's Obama's fault that the numbers are below expectations.

We're gonna create so many jobs

[Anonymous Coward]

we're gonna be sick of jobs. We're going to win so hard it's going to hurt, believe me.

fake news

[helga the viking]

There is not shortage of skilled workers never has been. That's supply-side myth used to suppress the movement of value into profit not wages. Nowhere near full employment: http://bilbo.economicoutlook.n... http://bilbo.economicoutlook.n...

Re:News for nerds huh?

[Archangel Michael]

I love this for a number of reasons, but mostly because it will piss off a huge number of useful idiots. Right up there with People Eating Tasty Animals will forever haunt animal rights activists.

Fake news. ADP says 268,000

[Anonymous Coward]

https://www.adpemploymentreport.com/2017/March/NER/NER-March-2017.aspx

That's so weird...

[kenh]

The DNC, an hour before the March job numbers were out put out this press release:

An hour before the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the March jobs numbers, the Democrat National Committee issued a news release saying, “Today, the U.S. economy is expected to continue the longest streak of private sector job growth on record, one of President Barack Obama’s most important accomplishments.

Source: CNS

From the same article:

The number of employed Americans increased 472,000 to 153,000,000 in March, setting a second straight monthly record; and the number of unemployed persons dropped by 326,000 to 7.2 million.

Oddly, the Slashdot article insists the results were less than impressive...

Re:That's so weird...

[Anonymous Coward]

You know what that reminds me of? Back in 1992, the MSM had been shilling "the worst economy in 40 years" or somesuch.

Literally the moment that Bill Clinton numerically won enough electoral votes on election night, Dan "What's the frequency Kenneth" Rather said, and I shit you not: "here we are on the verge of an economic recovery". Say what, now?

It's always been their job number one to make Democrat presidents look good and Republican presidents look bad.

This Thread, Pre-Russian Troll

[notsteve]

It's so interesting to see these threads in virgin form, before the Russian trolls assigned to Slashdot descend.

Re:This Thread, Pre-Russian Troll

[Anonymous Coward]

It's so interesting to see these threads in virgin form, before the Russian trolls assigned to Slashdot descend.

Yeah, where have all the staunch libertarians gone? There were hordes of them on /. prior to the election.

Re:This Thread, Pre-Russian Troll

[Anonymous Coward]

Pretty sure the Russian trolls have been pulled temporarily, until Putin decides what line he wants to take now that Trump has turned on him. I've noticed it on several forums today.

Re:Jobs

[Goose In Orbit]

Shortly followed by a spike in jobs at undertakers I presume

US Private Sector Job Growth Far Exceeds Estimates

[walterbyrd]

Guess it depends on who you read:

> 4/5/2017 9:03 AM ET
> US Private Sector Job Growth Far Exceeds Estimates In March
> Employment in the U.S. private sector increased by much more than anticipated in the month of March, according to a report released by payroll processor ADP on Wednesday.
> ADP said private sector employment soared by 263,000 jobs in March compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 187,000 jobs.

http://www.rttnews.com/2760791/u-s-private-sector-job-growth-far-exceeds-estimates-in-march.aspx

Some data to understand that number

[whitroth]

About 8 or 10 years ago, and this was the *only* time I heard it, not since, the US economy needs to add about 128k jobs per month, for the number of people entering the workforce over those leaving it.

Re:Some data to understand that number

[bill_mcgonigle]

128k

Newer estimates are higher:

On average, 205,300 jobs need to be created every month just to keep up with population growth and not allow the unemployment situation to get worse.

So when you read "added 98,000" you have to understand "lost 108,000" relative to steady state.

And when the loyal press diligently repeats "and the unemployment rate fell" you can fall back on your fourth-grade mathematics to know that they're lying with statistics (like removing people who cannot find work).

Why this is important: since the Dot-Bomb the job market had not has a sustained period of permanent job growth. Throughout the "recovery" job rates have constantly declined. There is *no* evidence that the job market will *ever* recover.

Austrian economists understand that this is because of the time value of money and that artificially-suppressed interest rates prevent lending and by extension economic growth. But the Fed has both the responsibility to service the interest on the National Debt and setting the interest rates, and if rates rise to a more natural 8% or so, the US will default on debt payments. So they can either have the economy crash or crash the economy. That is their pickle and they have chosen to spread the misery rather than risk their seat of power. Unfortunately even for then, the current trajectory is unsustainable over a long term and this will eventually result in a currency crash, revolution, or tyranny (choose two). Keynesians believe that starting wars are the best way out of a bad economic situation and even though the Middle East wars haven't fixed the economy they're looking to knock over Syria and North Korea (damn the EMP's, or do those break wiindows?)

Fortunately we have the Feds' imposition of Common Core Math (Pearson style) so 4th-grade math won't be much of an impediment for long.

Fraidy-cats

[Anonymous Coward]

Oh noes!! They're differn't 'n me. Ahhm a-skeeeeeered of 'em!!

Restaurant bubble

[jfisherwa]

This might be partially related to the restaurant bubble ending.

Re:Restaurant bubble

[Anonymous Coward]

This might be partially related to the restaurant bubble ending.

And the collapse of brick-n-mortar retail, especially failing large retailers dragging entire shopping malls that they "anchor" into death spirals.

Re:Suddenly.. Slashdot reports

[sexconker]

Why is this modded troll?

The headline is "Employers Added Just 98,000 Jobs in March Below Expectations of 180,000".
The summary starts with "Employers slowed their pace of hiring while the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in almost a decade in March".
The rest of the summary also explains that March's growth numbers were likely impacted by January and February having had larger-than-expected numbers, the big storms in the midwest, etc.

The headline is very negative while the summary is fairly neutral. The headline could have also been spun to be positive, such as "98,000 Jobs Added As Unemployment Hits Decade Low", but of course that doesn't generate as many clicks.

The parent AC is correct. This shit doesn't belong on Slashdot and the headline is engineered to be negative.

No one believes you

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to debate liberals.
I find that I no longer need to.
Just reading what they post sounds so completely idiotic on its own these days all I can do is distract from them if I attempt to give my viewpoint.

Re:No one believes you

[Anonymous Coward]

The things you own end up owning you.

Fight! Fight!

Hit yourself as hard as you can.

No reason to worry

[Anonymous Coward]

President Trump will MAGA!

100k coal miner jobs will be created, 1,000,000 soldiering jobs to support the impending war effort on (insert evil coutnry to be liberated here) and an endless stream of border guards for that long-ass wall between Mexico and the US.

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE! -another 100k passport control and immigration officers to make sure stinkin' terrorists don't come near the property AND another 100k weapons manufacturers to keep US citizens safe.

Something tells me EVERYONE can be employed when POTUS Trump is president for long enough.

#winning #somuchwinning #toomuchwinning #alreadysickofwinning

Re:Fake news. ADP says 268,000

[Copid]

The ADP and BLS numbers aren't exactly the same metrics and don't use exactly the same methodology. They're pretty well correlated over the longer run, but they often diverge for short periods, especially when there's a sharp change in payroll or when government payroll changes don't closely track private sector ones.

The good news is that in any given month, it allows yutzes on slashdot to choose the one they like better and shout that the other one is clearly propaganda.

ADP Begs to differ

[sycodon]

Private payrolls grew 263K in March vs. 185K est.: ADP

Can the labor dept and ADP possibly be talking about the same thing?

Re:ADP Begs to differ

[reboot246]

No, they are never talking about the same thing. You can look at it through their eyes if you want the President to look bad, or through the right stats if you want to make him look good. The only stat that means anything is how many people are working.

Trump kills jobs, surprise!

[Anonymous Coward]

Driving away jobs, that's just Daddy Donnie MAGA!

Redundant

[Anonymous Coward]

We need more H1B's* to fill the gaps

or someone willing to work 60-80 hours a week in the bay area for 60K

Two ways to say the same thing.