Opinion:  Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released their report for the month of August 2019 on September 6, 2019 indicating August Nonfarm Job Creation of 130,000 jobs, which in one word is pitiful.

25,000 of these jobs are for temporary employees hired by the US Government for the 2020 Census count.

The problem with the jobs report, under this Administration, is the fact the numbers are revised on a regular basis after they are released. Which isn’t at all unusual. We have always had revisions to the jobs report after release. The difference is the Revised numbers from this administration are lower than the originally reported numbers, in five of the past seven months. March, April, May, June, and July 2019 have all been revised downward by a total of 154,000 jobs, or a downward revision of 30,800 jobs per month for the past five months.

Why? What games are being played with the jobs report? Perhaps your response to that question, is we’re grasping at straws. We don’t think so. Going back through prior years, there have been revisions, not every month, and certainly not trending downward on a regular basis.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does an excellent job of reporting accurately; therefore, the only conclusion that can be reached is the private sector is turning in late and/or erroneous data to the BLS. When all is said and done there were only 96,000 nonfarm jobs created by the private sector in August of 2019. Do you consider that evidence of a booming economy?

Jobs and the stock market are about all people pay attention to regarding the economy.  Monetary and fiscal policy interest rates and the Federal Reserve are not table talk topics.  This Administration knows this and is making excellent use of the information.  If the economy is not creating many jobs, the next best thing is creative reporting followed by later reports reducing the number of jobs previously reported.

Add that to the Benchmark Revision that will be made in February of 2020 for calendar year 2019 of -501,000 jobs and it’s crystal clear the only change that needs to be made is a change in Administrations.

The economy will decide next year’s election which is still over a year away.  That is a long time to keep the economy propped up with puffed up jobs’ reports followed by downward corrections.

© 2019 Patricia L Johnson and Richard E Walrath

Patricia L Johnson is a former special assignment writer/photographer located in the Midwest.   Richard E Walrath is former Budget Analyst for Ohio State University, currently residing in Ohio with his family.